


Colorful (Continued)

by hitmewiththatfanart33



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Any other warnings at beginnings of chapters, Blood and Injury, Fluff, How Do I Tag, Human Sides (Sanders Sides), I'm new here, M/M, Polyamory, Prinxiety - Freeform, Rosleep, car crash, dukeceit, it gets angsty, logicality - Freeform, rosleepxiety, sleepxiety
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:34:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 36,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24828403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hitmewiththatfanart33/pseuds/hitmewiththatfanart33
Summary: The world of soulmates turns out to be so much more complicated than any of them could have imagined. When bravado-fueled, reckless, bullied Roman realizes his pain is felt by none other than Virgil Mercer, their lives quickly change. Is it for the better or for the worse? Remy, believing he isn't worthy of love, may be the deciding factor. (Note: This was originally posted by my old collaborator, and will now be continued here for all my AO3 readers!)
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Sleep | Remy Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Sleep | Remy Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders, October | Toby Sanders/Sleep | Remy Sanders, Virgil/Roman/Remy
Comments: 5
Kudos: 27





	1. Red and Purple

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Violence, bullying mention, and minor cursing.

Roman Stokes winced, hissing in pain as he was slammed against the lockers in passing. He felt a tinge of sympathy, knowing his soulmate was able to feel his pain as well. He was able to feel theirs. He had felt it every time they stubbed their toe or tripped over something. But it wasn't as if he could control the way the school bully, James, treated him any more than he could control the fact that his soulmate felt his pain.

"Leave me the fuck alone," Roman said with more bravado than he felt.

He pushed James back, causing him to collide with his friend. The two of them turned to him, and he froze in a moment of panic, his eyes widening, before he squared his shoulders, fists raised to defend himself. He whispered a silent apology that he knew his soulmate couldn't hear before the first hit landed.

***

Virgil Mercer was walking down the hallway quickly when he felt the pain. It trickled along his back and sides like he'd been splashed with boiling water, leaving his skin red just the same. He stuttered in his steps, leaning against the lockers as he tried to breathe away the pain. His soulmate had to be— and he meant this with love— an idiot. Someone with an insane amount of bravado-fueled stupidity.

The pain hit more intensely on his cheek before rapidly increasing and spreading all over him.

What the hell was going on?

Was his soulmate in a fight, or... or worse?

He could barely stand, his knees threatening to buckle beneath him as he leaned back with more force against the wall, clutching the front of his shirt as if that would help him be able to catch his breath.

Being as lost in the pain as he was, he scarcely registered the students rushing past him to get a teacher.

Hardly noticed being ushered into the nearest classroom by his best friend, Remy, to recover.

He was too distracted to care. Later, he would just be written a pass, as this sort of thing happened often with students.

"Come on, babe," Remy murmured, concern seeping into his voice as he helped Virgil to sit down in one of the chairs in the theatre classroom. Remy had helped him through this more than once, but that didn't make it anymore painful.

The pain was subsiding, though it was still definitely there— a dull, constant ache— but Virgil allowed himself to be led to the seat. He was still highly anxious, his mind flooding him with images of different scenarios of what could have happened to his soulmate. He could have gotten into a car accident, or gotten beaten up, or fallen down a flight of stairs.

"I... I'm okay now," he stuttered out, giving a small, shaky smile up to Remy to thank him.

***

Roman had been pulled away from James by a teacher before he'd so much as managed to get one punch in. A second teacher rushed forward and led James and his friend to the principal's office with hushed chastisements. The teacher who had pulled Roman away decided against sending him to the principal's office as well, claiming that if he wanted to see him, he would simply call, and she sent Roman to class.

He rushed to the theatre classroom, not wanting to be even later than he already was. When he burst in, he saw— amongst all the other students, who were huddled around, watching with caution and intrigue the way one does when anything interesting happens in high school— Virgil. Roman nodded a quick hello, wondering why he and Remy were in here, considering they weren't in this class, before looking to the teacher.

"Sorry I'm late, I..." he motioned to the bruise already beginning to blossom in varying shades of purple and red on his cheek. "You know."

Virgil shifted slightly in his seat when he saw Roman's bruise; he didn't like when anyone from their friend group got hurt, but Roman seemed to get hurt more often than the others. He wished he was around to stop it when it happened...

He got shakily to his feet, gripping Remy's arm for support, and stepped closer to Roman, his head tilted slightly to the side. "Another fight, Princey? What did they do? Let me see." He knew it was nowhere near his place to be the worried mom-friend, but he couldn't exactly help it.

Roman waved his hand in an attempt to brush away Virgil's worries that he was so used to by now. Not that he would admit it if you asked him, but he actually kind of liked that the emo was worried about him. He knew he wasn't Virgil's closest friend in the group— that would be Remy, with Patton as a close second— but when he got worried like this, Roman knew that he at least cared.

Though he couldn't help but notice Remy's sudden pale complexion and discomfort, an odd sight to see on his face.

"It's nothing major. I think I've got a new bruise on my back from the lockers, but they only got a couple hits in before it was broken up." His brows pulled together at the unsteadiness of Virgil's stance and the way he had to grip onto Remy like he was afraid his knees would buckle out from under him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fi-ine," he faltered, swaying further into Remy.

It couldn't be... could it?

There was no way.

Just a coincidence.

Yeah.

Even so, Roman eyed him doubtfully for a second, the wavering in his voice not exactly the most convincing. He was sure Virgil was lying, but he wasn't about to call him out, especially in front of all these students and the teacher. Besides, he was under no obligation to tell Roman everything— or anything, for that matter. They hardly spoke outside of class and rehearsal.

"Just stop doing stupid stuff before they actually have to use that understudy of yours," he joked playfully, a rare smile tugging at the corners of his lips before he turned to the teacher. "Can Rem and I get a pass?"

The teacher nodded and quickly wrote a pass for the both of them and handed it to Virgil before turning to Roman to assess whether or not he needed to go to the nurse's office. Roman eyed Virgil a moment longer, wanting to say something further, but eventually sighed silently and nodded slightly.

"Thanks," Virgil mumbled to the teacher, shifting slightly under Roman's gaze. That seemed to be a thing with them... Always looking, never talking. "Bye, Ro."

Virgil led Remy— who chuckled at his insistence— out of the classroom like the devil himself was on his heels. He was just glad that Roman hadn't asked why he was in there.

Several days passed, and Virgil had nearly managed to convince himself that the thing with Roman had been merely a coincidence. Their friend group sat together at lunch, each of them a different sort of theater kid other than Remy. Virgil, although he had nearly convinced himself, was still suspicious, watching Roman carefully as lunch crawled by at a sluggish pace. Making up his mind to conduct a little experiment— as Logan would put it— he pinched his thigh under the table.

Roman felt a jolt of pain flood into his thigh, as if he had been pinched— hard— and he reached under the table, rubbing at the pained skin. It definitely wasn't the worst pain he'd ever felt, so he didn't bother dwelling on it. He did, however, glance towards Virgil. He had had his own suspicions about Virgil, specifically about why he looked so out of it every time Roman got into a fight. There couldn't have been _that many_ coincidences... could there?

_Oh no_... Virgil thought as Roman looked straight at him, their eyes locking together for a moment before Virgil looked away. If they were... soulmates, what were they going to do about it?

When he saw the dread— or was that panic?— cross Virgil's face, Roman froze. Was Virgil his... no... no, that was crazy. They had been friends for a year and a half, surely he would have noticed— though, that _did_ explain why Virgil was so affected when Roman fought. Oh God... Virgil felt all of Roman's pain. He had felt bad enough when his soulmate was a stranger he had yet to meet, but knowing that it was one of his friends...

Well, there was only one way to test whether or not he really was.

He pinched his thigh as hard as he could, and when Virgil's eyes widened at the pain shooting up his thigh, flinching hard enough that it was visible, he knew.

"Virgil, can I talk to you about something?" Roman asked suddenly, unintentionally interrupting Logan, who had been talking to the group about something he had found interesting in class.

If Virgil was his soulmate— and it didn't feel so much like an _if_ anymore— they needed to talk about what they were going to do about that. He had never stopped to view Virgil in a romantic way— the emo wasn't exactly his type, though _god_ did he look good in black— but he didn't exactly have a choice in the matter.

Virgil swallowed thickly before squeaking out a "yes" and getting up from the table.

He was caught.

Remy looked up at him in confusion, wondering what was going on and why Roman wanted to talk to him, but he didn't say anything about it as Virgil followed Roman out into the hallway.

The one thing that gave Virgil the most anxiety in life had been his soulmate. He'd been worried about whether or not they would like him, whether or not they would be as compatible as everyone claimed soulmates inherently were. While he wasn't exactly complaining on the choice— having had the smallest bit of a crush on the actor— he was absolutely at a complete loss of what to do.

He had always imagined it... different?

Roman sighed, rubbing the back of his neck nervously once they reached the hallway and he turned to Virgil. He opened his mouth to speak and found himself at a sudden loss for words.

What could he even say?

He had been looking forward to meeting his soulmate his entire life, had pictured a big, sweepingly romantic moment like in the movies.

Not this.

"You..." he began after a moment of anxious silence. "Are you my soulmate, Virgil?"

Virgil averted his eyes, chewing on his lip, though not hard enough to hurt. Roman seemed a little... disappointed? Maybe that wasn't the right word, but he most certainly didn't seem excited about the prospect of being Virgil's soulmate.

For a second that seemed to last an eternity, he debated whether or not he should deny it, but he realized that the lie would be too much to keep up with and it would be too obvious. With a resolved sigh, he pinched his hand by way of response, which caused Roman to flinch slightly and rub the back of his hand, over the faint red mark, to ease the pain.

"Sorry I'm not exactly your Prince Charming," he hummed softly with a shrug.

Roman hated how upset Virgil looked... or maybe 'upset' wasn't right, either...

"I never said there was anything wrong with you being my soulmate. I just... it's not what I imagined." He cringed visibly at his own words, knowing that they weren't coming out right.

He didn't want to hurt Virgil's feelings, but a part of him knew that Virgil understood. Life never played out exactly how anyone imagined it would. It wasn't like they had been best friends and found out in some big climactic moment. They were hardly more than acquaintances, and they had found out in a cafeteria while half-heartedly listening to Logan ramble on about star clusters.

"Should we... I don't know..." Virgil rubbed his arm nervously, glad not for the first time in his life for the oversized hoodie he wore that he could hide behind in moments like this where he felt particularly vulnerable.

Roman smiled softly, tilting his head ever so slightly to the side as he looked at Virgil. He found it endearing in this moment that he was nervous, and were they closer friends, he would definitely reach out to touch him to calm his nerves. "Should we give this soulmate thing a shot? Attempt to date? We don't have to if you're uncomfortable with the idea."

The emo's heart fluttered in his chest with some emotion he couldn't quite discern, and he gave a shy half-smile, meeting Roman's eyes, practically glowing. "I'd like that," he admitted, and immediately inwardly cursed himself.

God, what kind of reply was that?

_I'd like that._

Pssh.

Someone just fucking _smite_ him already.

A small smile tugged at the corners of Roman's lips and he reached towards Virgil's hand after a moment of hesitation, taking it in his own, moving slowly enough that if Virgil so wished, he could pull away. However, he didn't— his eyes widening a little instead, his cheeks flushing red. He accepted the actor's hand, enjoying the feeling of vibrating warmth from the contact of their fingers threading together.

Roman's smile grew to a grin as a light blush spread across his cheeks, and he nodded towards the cafeteria. "Shall we?"

With a darker blush and a nod of his head, Virgil followed Roman back into the cafeteria to rejoin their friends. When they entered and took their seats— well, Virgil took a new seat at Roman's side rather than between Remy and Logan— Patton eyed them with a small, knowing smirk.

"Interesting conversation, kiddos?" he mused with a playfully teasing tone to his voice.

Virgil rolled his eyes, chuckling as he squeezed Roman's hand a little tighter and Roman nodded. Rehearsal was going to be fun...


	2. Fitting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman and Virgil get closer during rehearsal.

Once lunch was over, Roman gave Virgil's hand a quick, gentle squeeze, pressing an innocent kiss to his cheek before bidding him goodbye. There was still three periods left in the day, and he didn't have any afternoon classes with Virgil, so he would have to wait to see him again until rehearsal after school.

As he watched Roman leave, Virgil lifted his hand to his cheek, gently touching the spot Roman had touched. He was pretty sure his face was on fire, and he was going to _literally_ explode.

Who gave Roman the right to be so cute?

Virgil spent the rest of the day unable to stop thinking about the kiss to his cheek, even through all of his classes. It was too bad that he only had a morning class and lunch with Roman, because he found himself really wanting to see him. He tried to catch glimpses of him in the hallway between classes, and he felt his heart skip a beat when their paths crossed and Roman grinned at him between classes. Those little moments were like heaven in themselves, and soon enough, it was time for rehearsal.

He sat in the audience, not being needed as a tech today. He really didn't even need to come to rehearsal today, but he was the only tech who showed up whether or not he was needed.

His favorite part of watching was getting to see Roman goof off between scenes.

Don't get him wrong— he loved watching the incredible acting— but Roman's characters were usually pretty stoic or generally sad, and Roman was just a bundle of joy between scenes, wiggling or dancing absent-mindedly as he joked and laughed with the other actors.

When Roman's scene was over, Virgil crept backstage to say hi. The blonde was laughing and joking with one of the ensemble members when Virgil approached, and as soon as he saw him, he waved a goodbye to the other before turning to face Virgil.

"Having fun?" Roman joked with a small chuckle.

"Loads. I've got to say... your level of eloquence has severely dropped today... I wonder what absolutely handsome boy could be causing it," he teasingly commented, leaning against the wall in front of Roman, who rolled his eyes slightly, a blush painting his cheeks.

Roman had tripped over his feet more times than he cared to admit during rehearsal so far. He usually didn't have that problem, but every time he'd glanced out into the audience and had seen Virgil watching him, he'd gotten inwardly flustered and broken character and tripped over his feet and stumbled over his words. This boy was going to be the death of him.

"You know, it might be that new ensemble member, Patrick," he teased jokingly with a smirk. "Solid ten out of ten." He looked at Virgil, stepping closer so they weren't in anyone's way. This, of course, had Roman nearly pressing against him, which had Virgil inwardly suffering from a gay panic as he feigned offense.

"Sure," the emo scoffed with a roll of his eyes. "And I'm sure Patrick feels all your pain, too. I swear, you had some of the weirdest injuries."

"Yeah... I'm sorry about that. I picked fights a lot more before I realized that my soulmate felt the pain, too." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, recalling the countless fights he had instigated in middle school.

"Don't sweat it, Princey. You got me out of class a lot. But I _am_ curious... freshman year, what was that pain in the middle of my forehead? My head was throbbing practically the whole day."

"I was an idiot and decided to try to make a basket in gym class by throwing the ball straight up, and it landed on my face." He snorted in laughter at his own athletic ineptitude, glad that he no longer had to deal with gym class.

Virgil grinned. "You? Play basketball? Oh my god, you are too cute..."

Roman's cheeks flushed at the compliment and he had to bite his lip to keep himself from smiling too widely. "Steering away from the fact that I only had a basketball because it was gym class and it was either _that_ or playing flag football, which I certainly was **_not_** doing..." He laughed a little, raising his eyebrows with a smirk. "You think I'm cute?"

Virgil was sure his blush had to be darker than humanly possible by now. He opened his mouth to say something, and when all that came out of him was a quiet, albeit embarrassing, squeak, he closed it again. "I...I, uh..." he stuttered after a moment before chewing on his lip, looking over Roman's face. "Of course, idiot."

And the smile that tugged at Roman's lips at that nearly had Virgil swooning right then and there.

Who the _hell_ gave him the right to be so absolutely adorable?

Roman reached forward then and brushed back Virgil's bangs from his eyes, his fingers just barely brushing against his skin in a feather-light touch that sent shivers up Virgil's spine. "I think you're cute, too, you perfect emo nightmare," he teased quietly before leaning in towards him.

Virgil was going to die.

He was going to _literally_ have a heart attack right here and now, his gaze flickering down to Roman's lips as he leaned close.

Was Roman really going to kiss him?

They had only known they were soulmates for a couple hours, but Virgil became aware of just how very much he wanted that, his eyes beginning to slip shut as his entire body thrummed in anticipation.

Closer...

Closer......

And the director called next scene, making Roman freeze.

_Fuck._

"That's my cue," he whispered, wincing apologetically. He quickly kissed Virgil's cheek before rushing on stage, leaving behind his rather flustered and deeply blushing soulmate.

"Break a leg," he called after Roman, and then quickly added, "Actually, please don't. Don't do that."

As Virgil slipped back into the audience, he did his best to ignore the panic fluttering in his chest— because that was what it had to be, right? Panic? How else could he explain the twisting, fluttering feeling in his stomach when Roman touched him, or the way his knees practically buckled when he spoke?

Though... he knew what it was.

And it wasn't fair that it was this easy.

He'd felt this way before— or similar to it, rather— back in Sophomore year, and that hadn't been easy. Why did it make sense that _this_ was?

By the time the director decided to call it a day, they had managed to get through a few scenes without Roman breaking character with a lovesick grin. Nowhere near as many as she wanted, but enough to satisfy her. Roman grinned across the auditorium towards Virgil, and jumped down from the stage, bracing himself for the landing— which they were both glad didn't hurt more than a brief tingle— before approaching the emo.

Virgil gave a smile, trying to push away the fluttery feeling in his stomach at Roman being so eager to get to him that he had to _jump off the stage_ rather than using the stairs ten feet away like a normal person. He got to his feet and stepped into the aisle to greet him. There was nobody coming this way— everyone else using the side aisle to get to the exit— so they didn't have to worry about blocking anything.

"Did you have plans now that rehearsal is done? I'm heading to the coffee shop down the street and I was wondering if you might want to join me," Roman offered with a smile that may or may not have held a trace of nervousness.

"Nope."

"No to having plans, or no to joining me?"

Virgil rolled his eyes with a snorting chuckle, and grabbed Roman's hand, threading their fingers together without a moment's hesitation.

"Come on, Princey."


	3. When Souls Collide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An after-rehearsal coffee date provides Virgil with some interesting knowledge of Roman, plans get made, and he can already tell that he's going to love being Roman's soulmate.

As Roman and Virgil got their coats and bags from the seats they had set them on, Virgil eyed him quietly for a moment. He knew that he had no choice in the soulmate choosing process—that was all done by a part of their brains that linked them together based on who their perfect partner would be— but he had to admire the choice nonetheless.

"Are we taking your car or mine?" Virgil asked as Roman pulled his coat on.

"We can take yours, unless you want to walk," he chuckled in response. "My car is in the shop for a couple days. I've just been walking to and from school this week."

Virgil blinked in shock. It was freezing outside, and Roman was _walking_? "Why don't you just take the bus instead?"

"James rides the bus," he answered simply, grabbing his bag and slinging it over his shoulder. Virgil assumed that was the guy who had been beating Roman up— he had never known before then, had only known that Roman got into a bunch of fights, and they all _hurt_.

"Well..." he began, leading Roman out of the auditorium and towards the parking lot. "We can take my car to the coffee shop, and if you need a ride for the rest of the week to and from school, you could just ask." Roman seemed highly relieved, which was a little concerning, but Virgil decided not to linger on it too much. As the two of them made their way towards Virgil's car, Virgil spoke up again. "If you don't mind my asking... why do you get beat up all the time?"

He shrugged, not quite meeting Virgil's eyes, though it was obvious that he was doing his best to hold onto his bravado that he faced the world with so often and not look anxious. Virgil felt his heart go out to him— he knew how it felt to feel like you had to be brave and strong in front of other people, and he hated that Roman felt that way, too. "Honestly," he said after a moment as they reached the car, "Probably because I'm the openly gay theatre boy who doesn't back down from them."

"Oh," he said quietly, leaning back slightly against the back of his car. "Well, you've got an openly gay emo soulmate to kick their ass now," he finished with a small smile, gently bumping his shoulder against Roman's.

Roman looked to him with surprise, his brows raising slightly. His gaze flickered down over Virgil's frame in a way that had his cheeks flushing red again. He knew that he didn't look very strong, constantly in the oversized hoodie that hid most of him, and he couldn't help but inwardly chuckle at the skepticism in Roman's gaze. "You're gonna kick James Starkey's ass?"

"Why not?" he replied with a shrug. "It's not like it would hurt to defend you any more than it already does when they beat the shit out of you. And I don't exactly have a reputation to ruin. I might even get one from it." Roman still didn't seem convinced. "I'm a lot stronger than I look," he claimed.

Roman chuckled and leaned forward, resting his hands on the car on either side of Virgil. "He would break your pretty little body in half."

He suppressed a squeak of shock at the purred words, his face flushing even darker and his heart skipping a beat. He swallowed thickly, his mind going blank but for one thought: _And you can destroy me with a single look._

He brought his hands up and rested them on Roman's chest, looking into his eyes, not sure what else to do. He was completely and utterly warm despite the biting air around them. Roman leaned in closer...

Closer...

Virgil was going to explode.

His gaze flickered down to Roman's lips, very much wanting the kiss Roman had been teasing towards all afternoon, but not one to make a move first. His eyes started to flutter shut as he anticipated lips on his...

Only for Roman to instead press an innocent kiss to his nose and withdraw from him with a chuckling smirk.

"Shall we?" Roman asked as he pulled away from Virgil, making the cold air flow back around him and bring him back to reality. After a really long pause to pull himself together, Virgil moved again. He unlocked the door and the two of them got in.

The drive to the coffee shop was short, with it being only a block away, and after they entered and ordered their drinks, they found a booth to sit at, both cradling warm cups in their hands. Roman drank in silence for a couple minutes, one eye on Virgil. Whereas the dark and stormy emo hadn't been what he had imagined his soulmate would be like, he could see why the two of them had been matched. He could tell already that he was going to fall completely, irrevocably in love with him.

He was headed there already, crashing head-first into something he wasn't sure if he wanted to lean into or run from.

"How did you get interested in theatre?" Roman asked after a minute, breaking the peaceful silence between them. "You've only participated in the last maybe three big plays the school has done."

"I don't know. Being a tech always interested me. You get to play with the lights, build the sets, and do it all in the shadows. It's the lifestyle of theatre, but you get to actually see the shows. It's super fun... And I've only done the last three because I had to learn the ropes before they let me join varsity," he explained, shifting slightly in his seat, feeling a little silly about being so passionate for something.

Roman loved the way Virgil's eyes lit up when he talked about this. The way he explained it, tech must be the most interesting thing on the planet.

He toyed with his straw as he looked at Virgil for a moment longer, a small smile teasing at his lips. Virgil shifted under his gaze, not used to being stared at like that, like he was the only person in the room, like he was all that mattered. He cleared his throat gently and changed the subject. "Don't you have a brother? I thought I heard something from someone that you had a brother."

Roman made a face, rolling his eyes with a chuckle. "Yeah. Remus. Most irritating twin on the planet, I swear."

"Twin?!" The look on Virgil's face was damn near hilarious, making Roman let out a snorting chuckle.

"Unfortunately, yeah. Though, of course, I'm the more handsome twin. He's got some kind of pedo-stache on his face he refuses to shave."

"Gross," Virgil laughed. "How come I've never seen him?"

"He acted out a lot when he was in school— he ended up getting expelled in eighth grade, so now our parents don't trust him to be in public school and they home-school him."

"Oof," he commented, not knowing that else to say. Roman seemed amused by it, at least, so he supposed he was allowed to find it funny. Maybe that was why Roman got scraped up a bunch at home, he thought, touching the faint memory of pain on his knee. A wild brother like Remus sounded... interesting, to say the least. "Did you guys play outside a lot when you were younger?"

Roman nodded with a smile. "We used to, yeah. We'd run around playing pirates or playing princes and rescuing a damsel in distress from a dragon-witch."

"Dragon-witch?" Virgil mused. How had he never noticed the brightness of Roman's eyes before?

Roman nodded. "Remus was accidentally allowed to watch Sleepy Hollow, so he was obsessed with witches and wanted the villain to be a witch, while I wanted a dragon. We ended up fighting over it until our mom forced us to compromise, and thus the dragon-witch was born," he explained.

Roman's smile grew slightly reminiscent as he spoke about his past, and Virgil smiled brightly, happy to listen to him rattle off his happy memories. It sounded like he had had a fun childhood. Virgil then tilted back the rest of his coffee and looked towards the window, seeing that it was already dark out, with it being winter. Roman's gaze followed his, and he let out a soft sigh, finishing off his own coffee.

"I should probably let you go. Don't want to keep you out all night."

The emo shrugged in response. "It's fine. Do you need a ride home?"

"If you wouldn't mind, please."

Virgil smiled and got up to throw away his coffee cup, followed closely by Roman, who waved a goodbye to the barista on his way out of the shop. He seemed either familiar with the staff or just outgoing in general; either way, it made Virgil feel warm for some reason.

He kept his hands outside of his pockets once they were outside, even though they were cold, smugly knowing Roman would grab one. And when Roman stepped up beside him, slipping his hand into Virgil's and threading their fingers, he bit back a smile. What he hadn't been anticipating, however, was the crease in the other's brow as he turned to him and took the other hand as well.

"Are your hands always this cold?" he asked softly, concern dripping from his voice in a way that had Virgil absolutely melting.

He blushed, averting his gaze slightly, though he didn't move his head to turn away. "I guess. I don't hold many hands."

Roman cradled his hands in his for a moment, firmly holding them as he tried to warm them, and when he realized the effort was futile— with them still standing outside in the cold— he nodded towards Virgil's car. "C'mon, let's get you out of the cold."

He nodded in response, a small smile tugging at his lips in contrast to his trembling from the cold that reached him even through his hoodie, and he let Roman lead him to the car. Once inside, he turned the heater on. It would take a while to warm up, but he would be okay until then. It was less cold in the car than it was outside. Besides, as soon as Roman's door was closed behind him, he took Virgil's hands in his again, the warmth of his hands making Virgil's stomach flutter.

And the flutter of butterflies turned into a swarm when Roman pressed a series of gentle kisses along his knuckles. The emo's face burned red, his senses coming to life at the soft lips on his skin. He was certainly warm now.

Unable to help himself, Virgil let out a small giggle, which drew Roman's eyes up to his face. A smile tugged at the blonde's lips before he pressed one more kiss to the back of Virgil's hand. Choppy laughs continued tumbling from Virgil's lips as Roman's bright eyes watched him with wonder now. This was probably one of the best days he had ever had, and he didn't want it to end just yet.

"Let's stay here for a while. Unless you need to be home...?"

Roman shook his head, a light blush dusting his cheeks that made him glad for the darkness that made it nearly impossible to see the difference in hue. Virgil, when he was smiling and laughing, was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. The entire day seemed surreal, and he was just as hesitant as Virgil to see it end. He didn't want it all to turn out to be a dream. "I can stay as long as you want, V."

"What a sap," Virgil mused with a teasing smirk and another chuckle, though this one was soft and barely audible, more of an exhale of breath than anything. "Um... this is going to sound ridiculous, but what's your favorite color?" He looked away from Roman in embarrassment, though he didn't pull his hands away from the warmth that surrounded them.

"It's a tie, actually, between red and gold. And yours?" He smiled softly, leaning to the side slightly— as much as he could, really, seeing as they were sitting in the car— to make Virgil look at him.

Virgil bit back a smile at Roman's attempt to get him to look at him, rolling his eyes fondly. "Purple... or black," he mumbled before turning to look at Roman. As he did, his nose accidentally brushed against his, and he froze, their noses still touching, his brown eyes wide.

Roman's blush darkened to a deep shade of red and he was overcome with the realization of just how much he wanted to close the distance between their lips, to feel those soft lips against his, and he'd been honestly trying to build up the courage all day— Virgil was his _soulmate_ for goodness sake— he was just so damn _nervous_. His gaze flickered down briefly towards Virgil's lips before meeting his eyes again, silently asking permission. When he didn't move, Roman leaned closer...

Closer...

Until their lips were a breath away, and he paused, giving him time to pull away if he so chose. And after a long second that seemed to stretch for eternity in which their breath mingled together in faint, swirling clouds of fog, Virgil allowed his chin to bob forward and close the space.

Roman released one of Virgil's hands, bringing his hand up to cradle his face instead, his thumb brushing lightly against Virgil's cheek. It was everything he had imagined it to be. Kissing him— kissing his soulmate— was absolutely, undeniably incredible. He had imagined fireworks, and he was absolutely certain he felt them as well.

Virgil wrapped one arm loosely around Roman's neck, his wrist resting on his shoulder as his fingers lightly toyed with the hair at the back of his neck, a small smile tugging at his lips as he kissed him slowly and tenderly. The butterflies in Roman's stomach grew more frantic, growing from a flutter to a swarm, and when he broke away from the gentle exchange, grinning like an idiot, his cheeks were flushed, the blush spreading and disappearing under the collar of his shirt.

"Would this be a bad time to ask what your favorite movie is?" Virgil asked softly, his forehead resting against Roman's as he opened his eyes, a joking smile on his lips.

Roman laughed, removing his hand from Virgil's face and pulling away slightly. "Aladdin," he said simply. "Or basically any Disney Princess movie, honestly. Most of them found their prince charming, and now I've found mine."

Virgil's face burned bright red— redder than he thought humanly possible, and he was glad for the darkness for hiding most of it. "Shut up," he muttered, ducking his head.

Another chuckle left Roman in response to Virgil's reaction, and he brought his hand to Virgil's face again, his fingers sweeping in a feather-light touch along his forehead, brushing his hair out of his eyes. "You know you love my teasing, V." He pressed another quick kiss to his lips before asking, "And you? What's your favorite movie?"

"This is a lot of pressure... What do I get for answering?" Virgil teased. The way he watched Roman had the boy's heart doing flips in his chest.

"It's a surprise," Roman said, emitting the same playful energy, though really he needed more time to think of something.

Virgil faked a grumpy look, chewing on his answer. "Nightmare Before Christmas?" he answered finally.

"Ding, ding, ding," he mused jokingly. "You win. Do you want your prize?"

Virgil squinted skeptically and it was all Roman could do not to burst out laughing. "It depends," he responded simply. "What are you trying to sell me?" The corner of his mouth kept twitching up from the scowl, betraying the fact that he was trying not to smile.

"Nothing much, really. Just a date with the hottest guy in all of theatre." He shrugged as if it was a nonchalant, casual statement.

"Hmm, I like Damien as much as the next guy," he teased slowly, his eyes sparkling mischievously. When Roman dramatically feigned offense, Virgil kissed him again to silence him. "But I think I'd prefer you."

His cheeks flushed at that, and any feigned offense he had left fled from him as he smiled. "Friday night. We don't have rehearsal. Would you like to go on a real date with me?"

Virgil was ecstatic. "I'd love to. Where would we go?"

"Well..." He dragged the word on for as long as he could, thinking. "We could go to a movie, or we could go ice skating."

Virgil thought for a long moment. Whereas ice skating would be so embarrassing— he would probably fall flat on his face more times than he could count— it also meant Roman would have to warm his hands, and that thought made his stomach flutter wildly. Or there was watching a movie, which was fun and not embarrassing, but they wouldn't be able to talk.

Ice skating it was.

"Hmm, ice skating. Only because I want to watch you wobble around," he teased.

Roman suppressed a snort of laughter, settling for a soft chuckle as he rolled his eyes and pressed his forehead to Virgil's again. "And are you going to catch me if I fall?"

Virgil had decided by this point that he was already doomed. He had fallen so hard in this short amount of time. When they said soulmates, they really meant it. "Of course," he promised in a whisper of breath before kissing him once more.

The light brush of lips quickly deepened as both of Roman's hands came up to cradle Virgil's face, enveloping him in warmth. He had never been held so gently and firmly all at once. He wrapped his arms around the back of Roman's neck, his fingers playing idly with one particularly wavy strand of hair.

Yeah, he was definitely falling. He was crashing headfirst into Roman, and he knew there was no hope of stopping it. And he didn't want to even try.

Two more days until their date.

This boy was going to be the death of him.


	4. Virgilante

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Virgil is around, James will not be tolerated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Minor blood, minor cursing, bullying, and violence.

The following day, Roman avoided the hallways he knew that James frequented. Now that he knew for sure who his soulmate was— and knew that it was one of his friends, no less— he needed to make extra sure that he stayed out of harm's way. He didn't want to continue to cause Virgil the harm that he knew he had been causing him for years, even before they became friends.

However, there was no way he could avoid passing by James on the way to lunch, considering there was only one hallway leading to the cafeteria, and James was waiting outside for him. Roman gritted his teeth against the pain that spread across his shoulder as he was slammed against the lockers in the hallway.

"You've been avoiding me, _princess_ ," James spit snidely. He raised his fist to punch Roman, and Roman barely had time to react before he heard a snarl of anger and someone ripped James away from him roughly.

He looked up to see Virgil, hoodie and backpack thrown aside, his surprisingly muscular arms visible in the purple tee-shirt he was wearing, gripping onto James' shoulder with an iron grip. He felt a strange mixture of surprise, relief, and attraction towards his soulmate all at once.

Relief that it wasn't a teacher who had pulled James away— he really didn't need to deal with that right now. Surprise that Virgil was even strong enough to do so. And attraction— as inconvenient as the timing was— as his jaw dropped and he stared at his surprisingly strong boyfriend.

James yanked his arm from Virgil's grip.

Running on pure adrenaline and anxiety now, Virgil punched James as hard as he could, bracing himself for whatever happened next. He was used to the knuckle pain from when Roman fought, but it felt different when it was in person. Tingling pain shot up his arm and he shook his hand once as if that could relieve the pain, a slight grimace twisting his face.

James cursed under his breath and hesitated only a fraction of a second before punching Virgil with as much force as he could in the stomach, knocking the air from his lungs. Gasping for air as his lungs spasmed in his chest, Virgil saw out of the corner of his eye that Roman had tensed and taken a step towards them with the intention to protect Virgil. As much as his heart went out to him, he didn't need Roman to get them more hurt. He held a hand out, motioning for Roman to stop, and he tried to swing at James again, only to meet empty air.

He swallowed.

Shit.

The second's hesitation was enough for James to gather himself and get Virgil in the nose. Blinding pain spread across Roman's and Virgil's faces, and Roman shut his eyes tightly as if that would alleviate even an ounce of it. When he opened his eyes again and saw the blood on Virgil's face, he panicked. His instincts took over and he clenched his fists as hard as he could— hard enough for his nails to dig into his palms— and he stepped forward.

Before he had time to swing, however, James turned on his heel, grabbing Roman by his shoulders, and brought his knee up hard between his legs. Roman gasped in pain, his face paling as he fell to his knees. Virgil collapsed along with him, the sharp, aching pain spreading throughout his groin as well. He crawled over to Roman, leaving a trail of bloody drips from his nose, and he glanced at James, narrowing his eyes dangerously, an angry fire burning in the bright green.

"Stay down," he demanded of Roman, his eyes not leaving James as the bully approached them once more. Virgil shot up to his feet— only swaying slightly as he pushed past the pain coursing through his body— preparing to defend himself. As he raised his fists in preparation, their entire friend group— Remy, Logan, and Patton— rushed in to break it up.

Logan stood fiercely calm, staring James in the face, his eyes narrowed slightly in a silent warning. A teacher came up beside Logan before anyone could do anything, and pulled James away, and it was over, and Virgil and Roman both audibly sighed in relief.

As James was being pulled away by the teacher, Roman struggled to his feet, groaning slightly in pain. He grabbed ahold of Virgil and pulled him close, wrapping his arms tightly around him and burying his face against the shorter male's shoulder.

Virgil was okay.

He was safe now.

Roman hated that he had been the cause of so much pain for Virgil, even if Virgil had voluntarily stepped in to defend him.

It was his fault that Virgil was hurt.

His fault.

His fault.

His–

"What happened? Are you okay?" Remy asked urgently, rushing to their side, breaking Roman from his thoughts. His eyes were on Virgil, a sort of panic in them— the expression much different than the usual calm smugness that he usually exhibited. Roman felt a flare of jealousy, thinking that there was something going on between the two of them, but he brushed the feelings aside. Virgil wouldn't start a relationship with him if he was with Remy.

When Virgil didn't answer right away, instead burying his face into Roman's shirt and trembling in the after-effects of his adrenaline leaving his body, Roman decided to answer instead. "I think we're okay, Remy. Thanks to Virgil." He rubbed his soulmate's back, resting his other hand on the back of his head, fingers toying with his hair in a comforting touch.

"Are you certain you're alright?" Logan asked with wary eyes.

Roman nodded. "Nothing too bad for me, and I'll make sure to get Virgil to the nurse's office to make sure he's okay."

Virgil pulled away from Roman after a moment and roughly wiped at his nose, smearing blood on his hand, and nodded to the worried Logan. "Thanks," he said before he looked up at Roman, his hands on his chest. "I'm glad you're okay."

Logan and Patton hesitated only a moment longer before heading into the cafeteria. Once they were gone, Remy looked to Virgil specifically. "Text me and let me know everything's okay when you're done in the nurse's office, Virge. And... I'll tell the teacher where you are, Roman."

Virgil nodded and Roman thanked him, and he was gone with another concerned look to Virgil as if he was contemplating stepping in and comforting him, but he seemed to decide to leave that to Roman. Roman turned again to Virgil, and he winced slightly at the sight of the blood drying on his upper lip. He wouldn't be surprised if Virgil's nose was broken. "Let's get you to the nurse, V."

He held Virgil's hand protectively, prepared to defend him if anyone approached them on the way to the nurse's office. Nobody did. Though, that was probably a combination of the murderous look in Roman's eyes and the blood on Virgil's face. Roman couldn't help but feel at fault for all of this. If he had just defended himself, Virgil wouldn't be hurt right now.

Well, he would be, considering the soulmate bond, but he wouldn't be bleeding.

Inside the nurse's office, Virgil cleaned the blood off his face and hand, and he got an ice pack, all with Roman loyally by his side. It warmed his heart that Roman had come with him, for he didn't want to have to be alone right now. Not that Remy would have let him be alone, anyways. But he was glad that he had his soulmate by his side.

Seeing the bloody mess that was Roman's shirt, Virgil handed him his black and purple hoodie, having not put it back on after the fight. Roman blushed lightly, taking the hoodie, and shrugged it on. It looked good on him, Virgil noted in his head as he put the ice pack to his nose.

"Are you okay, Virgil? You never... you never answered that back there," Roman said after a moment, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh. Yeah, I'm fine." He looked away from the other's torso, having been admiring the way he looked in his hoodie— a strange sense of pride in his chest at seeing Roman wear something that belonged to him— and met his eyes. Roman's nose was slightly red where Virgil felt the pain from the ice pack touching the tender spot. "I've just never done that before, and I know I'll probably get in trouble, but at least I had a good reason..." He adjusted the ice. "I'm starving."

"Do you want to go to lunch? We have like ten minutes left of it." Roman glanced to the nurse to be sure they were alright to leave, and she gave him a nod before going back to her paperwork.

"Unless you're up to skipping our next class. I could get you back before theatre at the end of the day," Virgil suggested quietly so the nurse wouldn't hear him.

"Are you okay to drive?" He reached up and gently brushed his thumb against Virgil's face, wincing slightly at the bruise that had spread across his nose, darkening the dark circles under his eyes behind his black eye shadow. "Because I'm down if you're okay to drive."

"Yeah. It's not that far. It's kind of numb now anyways," he assured Roman with a bitten back smile. He stuck out his free hand, which Roman gladly took without a second of hesitation, threading their fingers together.

As the two of them left the building— with way too much ease. Somebody really should have stopped them, considering it was the middle of the day and they were just walking out of the building— Roman hummed in thought, a random tune to clear his mind. "Thank you for stepping in, Virgil," he said after they got into Virgil's car and were headed down the road. "I can't remember if I've said that yet or not."

Virgil smirked slightly, glancing briefly towards Roman while keeping a majority of his attention on the road so he didn't crash. "No problem. I'm just surprised we weren't written up or talked to by the school officers. They really don't have a good system for fights. Most schools have 'stay away agreements' which is basically restraining orders for teens," he rambled.

His mind was racing. Had he really gotten into a fight today? And now they were skipping? When did he get so bold in his rebellion?

Roman chuckled, bringing Virgil out of his thoughts. "Yeah, I've learned for the most part that they don't give a crap about fights. They pull James aside, give him detention, and check the security cameras to be sure I— or in this case, you— didn't start it. Since it was just in defense, we should be fine. And if we're not..." he shrugged dramatically, holding the shrug for just a second too long as he made a noncommittal noise. "Detention isn't so bad. Just kinda boring."

"How many times have you been?!" Virgil asked in astonishment, turning to look at him for a longer moment when he stopped at a stop sign.

Roman? Detention? Wow.

"Tw... no... three times." He chuckled when he saw Virgil's surprise, amusement flickering in his own eyes. "Why do you sound like you think it's an insane idea that I've been in detention? You've felt how often I get in fights."

"I don't know. I guess I figured you were always defending yourself," he said with a chuckle of his own.

They were both wild, he supposed. But, he figured that was why they were soulmates, wasn't it?

"Now I see that you're just too headstrong for your own good," Virgil continued with a grin tugging at his lips.

Roman rolled his eyes, smiling brightly, a faint pink blush painting itself across his cheeks. "Is that such a big surprise?"

"No," the shorter male said with likely the largest smile he'd ever donned.

The car pulled into the burger place, and the two of them got out. In no time at all, they were seated at a booth with their food in front of them. "How did you get so strong, by the way?" Roman asked after a moment, watching Virgil as the boy dug into his burger like he hadn't eaten in days. He found it funny and endearing to see Virgil so excited about something, even if it was just something as silly as lunch.

Virgil swallowed his mouthful of food and slyly smirked. "You really wanna know?"

Roman nodded, swallowing a bite of his food that he'd taken. "Honestly, yes. I always viewed you as this tiny little emo kid— and I know I'm not the only one— and you're secretly a buff vigilante? Makin' my gay heart swoon, V."

He bit back a cackle, settling for a quiet snort and an eyeroll. "Okay, okay. It started off as just a result of set-building, but then I decided it would be kinda cool if I was toned or whatever. So, I used my dad's weights at home after school and in the morning. It kind of clears your mind." He felt a little ridiculous explaining all of this. What teen worked out outside of school?

"Have you ever considered a sport?" he asked, though it was obvious that he hoped he hadn't.

"Oh hell no," he laughed. "We'd be in pain so much more often than we already are." He loved tech and didn't have room in his schedule for anything else. Besides, other than weightlifting, he was really inactive. He shoved a huge bite of food into his mouth.

Roman seemed to bodily relax in relief at Virgil's answer and he let out a short chuckle, which made Virgil snort again.

"Why so relieved, Princey? Scared I'd have all the boys flocking to me if I was a jock?" He stretched his arms forward, slightly flexing to tease, and Roman took his hand once it was closer to him across the table. He rolled his eyes and pressed a kiss to the back of Virgil's hand before releasing it. "It's been a long time since I've been anywhere without wearing my hoodie. Looks good on you," Virgil noted.

He had frozen his ass off on the way there, but he didn't let it show. Besides, it was better for him to be cold than for Roman to walk around with a blood-stained shirt.

"Thank you. If you want to swing by my house, I can get a new shirt and give the hoodie back to you so you're not freezing. Or I can give you one of my jackets. Be the stereotypical cheesy high school couple."

Virgil sighed in relief. He didn't know how much longer he could stand the cold in a simple T-shirt. "Let's do both. Get you a new shirt, and be a cheesy high school couple."

Dating in high school was pretty normal, as finding your soulmate was hard and for some people, it took years to happen. Both of them realized just how lucky they really were.

Roman gave a small smile and nodded in agreement. He loved wearing Virgil's hoodie. Loved the way Virgil looked at him when he was wearing it. And he wanted to see Virgil in one of his jackets. He couldn't explain why he loved the cheesy romance of it so much, but he didn't try to question it. "We can go whenever you're ready."

Virgil had long since finished his food, so he nodded, and Roman grabbed their tray of food in one hand and Virgil's hand in the other, and on the way out of the burger place, he dumped the tray in the trash and set it on top of the trash bin. Virgil was starting to get anxious being away from school for so long.

What if they called his parents?

He was sure his dad, at least, would understand. Or at least, he hoped he would.

With how anxious he was, however, he was also incredibly excited. He felt like a rebellious teen, sneaking around with his boyfriend— he had a boyfriend?— and he might get to meet Roman's chaotic, wild brother... He couldn't even begin to think about what that would be like.

Virgil pulled out of the parking lot and after being given the address by Roman, he headed towards the theatre nerd's house.


	5. Wardrobe Swap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two have only been dating a few days, and already they're stealing each other's hoodies.

When they pulled up outside Roman's house, Roman gave a small, nervous smile before the two of them got out of the car. He knew that his parents weren't home— they left for work around noon— and he worried about what Remus would say about him and Virgil being there. Nonetheless, he led Virgil into the house. When they weren't immediately met with Remus, he hurriedly ushered Virgil into his room, closing the door behind him. He didn't want to have to deal with his brother right now, though he knew it wouldn't be long before he found out that Roman was here.

Virgil looked around the room, gawking as he spun in a slow circle to take it all in. Roman's room was ridiculously extravagant, with instruments in every corner and posters and playbills for plays taped up on the walls. It was incredible.

"I didn't know you played any instruments... or that you've been to Broadway," he commented, feeling very much like a rebellious teen with the fact that he was in his boyfriend's bedroom without permission from his parents.

The theatre nerd laughed a little when he saw the surprised excitement on Virgil's face. "Yeah, Remus and I went a few times back in middle school. A lot of these playbills are from plays I've been in, though. Little mementos." He moved his guitar from in front of his dresser and opened a drawer, pulling out a T-shirt. "And I haven't played most of these in a while, but I wanted to learn how to play, so I can at least mediocrely play..." he thought for a moment as he shrugged out of Virgil's hoodie, "...ten different instruments."

"Ten?!" his eyes practically bugged out of his head. "I taught myself how to play ukulele for the aesthetic, and it was _hard_! You're telling me you learned _ten_...?"

With a grin, he nodded. "Guitar, ukulele, drums, flute, violin, piano, trumpet, banjo, harp, and clarinet. I have a lot of free time. Most years the school only puts on one play, and my dance class is a seasonal thing, so seven months of the year, I have nothing else to do."

"Wow..." He did another slow turn and he caught sight of himself in Roman's dresser mirror this time, gasping in shock when he saw the huge bruise that was forming over his nose.

Hearing the gasp, Roman looked to him with a small, apologetic smile. "I have some makeup if you want to cover that up. It might be a bit darker than your skin tone, but I have powder to lighten it down."

The door swung open and Roman's brother, Remus, poked his head in. "I _thought_ I heard you. What are you doing home? And who's— holy fuck, dude. What happened to your face?"

"Remus, I've told you to knock before you come into my room," Roman said with an exasperated sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "Virgil, this is Remus, and Remus, this is my soulmate, Virgil." At those words, Virgil found himself blushing profusely. _He was Roman's soulmate..._

"Soulmate?" the more chaotic twin questioned as he stepped more fully into the bedroom, his head cocked to the side. He looked at Virgil like he was a new type of bug yet to be explored. "Why's your soulmate got a nasty bruise?"

"Because he was hit in the face by fuckin' James." Roman had told Remus countless times about the bully, so he knew exactly who he was despite never having met him. "He was standing up for me."

"That had to hurt. Details?" Remus flopped down onto the floor, knees pointing inwards towards each other rather than the opposite— the action of which made Roman and Virgil both grimace.

"He had him pinned up against a locker," Virgil spoke up, taking a seat on Roman's bed and pulling him along with him. "I pulled him off and punched him. I tried to swing again and he got me in the stomach, Roman in the crotch, then me in the face. Our friends broke it up."

"It was much more heroic than he's telling. Turns out this perfect little emo nightmare is secretly strong as hell. Practically lifted James off his feet when he pulled him off of me." Roman dramatically pretended to swoon, pressing the back of his hand to his forehead as he leaned heavily against Virgil's side.

The poor emo's face burned red and he shifted where he sat, aware that Remus was watching them with an interestingly amused sort of curiosity. Roman hadn't been lying about the mustache, unfortunately.

Virgil glanced up at Roman as he sat up again, getting off of him. They had to get back to the school soon or Roman would be late for rehearsal, and Virgil still hadn't come up with a way for them to get back into the school without being questioned. He realized that he probably should have thought of that before suggesting they skip.

"Alright, Remus. Out," Roman shooed him with a flick of his hands. "I have to change my shirt and then we're leaving. We have to get back before rehearsal."

Remus very obviously debated arguing for a second, but seemed to decide against it as he got up from the floor and walked out of the room. Once the door shut behind him, Roman pulled his bloodied shirt up over his head and as he dug in his dresser for a fresh shirt, Virgil flushed red, watching Roman's bare back. A shirt was quickly pulled onto him, however, and he shrugged back on Virgil's hoodie before heading to the closet to grab a jacket for Virgil.

He came back out with two jackets: a red and gold hoodie with a castle logo on the chest, and a white denim jacket with a red crown on the back, below the collar.

"Which one?"

Virgil's ears were still hot from having watched Roman change his shirt when he turned to face him, but he hoped Roman didn't notice. "Hoodie," he said without hesitation, pointing to the jacket of choice. He was a simple man. He lived the comfort life.

Roman put the denim jacket away, and then approached Virgil, handing him the hoodie with a gentle brush of his lips against his cheek, being careful of the bruise across his face. Warmth spread across Virgil's cheeks once more at the kiss, and he slipped into the hoodie, glad to be warm again.

The hoodie smelled nice.

Like Roman.

And as he discreetly breathed in the scent of it, Virgil grew warm in a completely different way. He held his hand out, and after Roman helped him up, they headed back to school. The two of them managed to slip back into the school as the last bell rang, weaving in and out of the crowd of students filing out of the building to get to their buses and cars.

Roman led Virgil into the auditorium and they got there just as the other theater kids were coming in.

"I gotta go get ready for rehearsal, Stormcloud." He grinned and disappeared backstage, leaving Virgil to sit in the audience after checking in with his tech director.

Stormcloud. That was cute.

He smiled, lovestruck, toying with the strings of the hoodie between his fingers as he watched Roman moving across the stage, dramatically delivering his lines with perfected ease. And as he watched Roman acting— occasionally breaking character with a lovey, dopey grin at seeing Virgil in his hoodie— Virgil daydreamed about how ice skating was going to go tomorrow.

With one particularly dramatically delivered line, Virgil had to bite back a laugh to himself. They were such an unlikely pair, the two of them. The drama queen and the quiet emo.

Who would have guessed?


	6. Tumbling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil can't sit still the entire day, ready to go on his date with Roman, and nothing is going to ruin that for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Brief, minor bullying.

The entirety of the next day, Virgil only thought about one thing: ice skating. He teasingly taunted Roman in the one class they shared in the morning, throwing small balls of paper at the back of his head until Roman silently got up from his seat and moved to the one beside Virgil, an amused smirk twitching at his lips.

"Yes, Virgil?" he whispered, keeping his voice low so he didn't interrupt the lecture and get yelled at by the teacher.

"Just messing with you, Princey," he grinned, throwing his boyfriend's hoodie hood over his head and sticking his tongue out, a positively impish expression gracing his face that made Roman's heart skip a beat and brought butterflies to his stomach.

Roman smiled and rolled his eyes."Do you want to head to the ice rink right after school, or wait until a little later?"

"After school. Then we can grab dinner after."

Virgil turned his eyes back to the teacher, and without looking at Roman, he smoothly held out one hand. Roman hooked their pinkies together, a soft smile tugging at his lips, and that was how they stayed the rest of class. It may or may not have highly confused most of the students in the class who were used to the emo and the theatre nerd picking on each other and getting into heated arguments.

Before they knew it, the rest of the morning had passed, and it was time for lunch. Roman met Virgil halfway to the cafeteria, and slid his hand into the emo's without hesitation, their fingers threading together. The two of them got their food before joining their friend group in the cafeteria, sitting down beside Patton with Remy and Logan on the other side of the table, and Patton greeted them with a grin.

"Hey, lovebirds. What's been going on with you two lately? Past two days, you went from being casual friends to attached at the hip."

Virgil turned red, hiding in taking a bite of his food before he answered. "Sorry, Pat. I've been meaning to talk to you."

He held up his hand, pinching it hard as a demonstration, and Roman flinched, the back of his hand flashing red where Virgil had pinched. "Ow," Roman mumbled in a whine, bringing his other hand up to rub the back of the one Virgil's pinch had shot through.

The reactions across the table were wildly different for each person. Logan's eyebrows rose in intrigue on his forehead, Patton whistled lowly, and Remy sipped at his coffee— in the canteen he brought to school every day, no matter how late stopping for coffee made him— watching the two of them with a calm collectedness that was _just_ different enough from his normal demeanor to be slightly unnerving.

"You two are soulmates?" Logan asked interestedly, to which Virgil nodded, a bitten-back smile tugging at his lips. "Fascinating. Hold your hand out, Virgil."

He complied with a chuckle and a glance at Remy. Why was he being so quiet? Was everything okay? Virgil made a mental note to talk to Remy after his date with Roman, and see if he was alright.

Logan reached out and pinched Roman's hand, watching as Virgil's flashed red. He seemed satisfied with that, as if a hypothesis of his had been confirmed. With a noise of complaint in the back of his throat, Roman yanked his hand away from Logan, scrunching up his face. "Stop with the pinching! How would you like it if I—" He cut himself off by reaching across the table and pinching the nerd's arm.

"Ow!" Patton squeaked out as pain flashed through his arm, a red patch appearing on his skin.

Logan hadn't reacted, despite the fact that he had been the one being pinched. And yet, as soon as Patton flinched, Logan's face flushed red in a way that none of them had ever seen before. The rest of the table fell silent, eyes going wide, as they regarded the unlikely pair. The fact that their friend group had not one but two sets of soulmates was _beyond_ unlikely. It was damn near insane.

"I guess you two have some talking to do," Roman mumbled with a soft chuckle.

With a glance to Patton, Logan's face somehow burned even redder. "Im-impossible... The... the odds of that happening... And how have we not noticed before? I—" He placed a series of pinches up and down his arm, watching Patton's face intensely.

Patton winced with each pinch, and after only a moment, he burst out with, "Ow! Logan - stop it!"

He grabbed hold of Logan's wrist and got up from the table, dragging Logan with him out into the hall. Virgil could practically see the Microsoft Error sign flashing above the nerd's head.

"Girl, I think you just broke Logan," Remy mused with a roll of his eyes and a snort of laughter.

Virgil cracked a smile, glad that whatever was going on with Remy didn't seem to be bad enough that he couldn't joke around with them. "I don't think it was Roman..." He nodded towards the hall where they could see that Patton had aggressively reached up and pulled Logan into a kiss— which, considering their massive height difference, was kind of funny. Patton really had to pull him down far because Logan was taller than Roman, even.

It was impressive, really, that Patton had made a move so quickly. Sure, Roman knew he had had a crush on Logan for ages— it had been one of the things that had broken them up during their very brief relationship back in freshman year— but come on. They had only known they were soulmates hardly five minutes, and they were already kissing, whereas it had taken Roman several hours to work up the nerve to kiss Virgil.

"I saw that coming from a mile away, honestly," Virgil hummed. "Those two never get hurt..." He leaned his head against Roman's shoulder, watching the cute scene a moment longer before deciding to give them some privacy by going back to eating his food. Not that he would have been able to resist the call of the lunch much longer anyways. Even though it was less than mediocre, it was still food, and he was perpetually starving.

Logan and Patton returned after a couple minutes and reclaimed their seats, directly across from each other, a sappy grin on Patton's face. Logan just looked a little dizzy. His tie wasn't on straight, nor was his hair perfect for the first time since most of them had known him.

"Welcome to the soulmate life," Virgil teasingly mumbled around a bite of food. "I'll be your tour guide for today." Patton absolutely beamed at his words, his grin stretching as a giggle bubbled up from his throat.

"I can't believe you guys have already found your soulmates," Remy mumbled, making a face. "I can't even find a half-decent boyfriend. It's not fair."

With a soft chuckle, Virgil reached across the table and ruffled Remy's hair— it had less product in it today than it normally did, so it was ridiculously fluffy. "You'll find your soulmate in no time, Rem."

***

The rest of the day went pretty normally, with Virgil anxiously sitting through classes as he watched the clock, waiting for the moment school would end and he would be able to go on his first _official_ date with his boyfriend— his _soulmate_. Okay, so maybe it wasn't how his days normally went.

When the final bell rang, Roman couldn't get out of class fast enough. Couldn't get to _Virgil_ fast enough. He was stumbling over his own feet, brushing past one of James' friends and ignoring when they called his name. He met Virgil at the doors, not noticing James and his friend tailing him. Confusion flashed across his face as Virgil blew past him, and when he turned around to see why, he saw Virgil standing between him and James, tensed and ready for a fight.

"Try it, I fucking dare you," he growled, his voice lower as anger for the bully burned in his eyes. James didn't seem fazed in the slightest, causing Virgil to swallow thickly, though he didn't outwardly show his anxiety and apprehension.

"Virgil, let's just get out of here," Roman mumbled, gently grabbing Virgil's arm. "I don't want to get in another fight." Not to mention he was just excited to go on their date, and didn't want James to ruin that.

"Aww, pretty boy needs his tiny boyfriend to fight his battles for him," James mocked with a sneer.

"Tell me, James, does your soulmate _enjoy_ being punched in the face?" Virgil asked with a sort of snide snark.

Roman pulled Virgil out of the school before James had a chance to make a move towards him. He really didn't want to get in another fight. Once they were safely outside, Roman breathed a small sigh of relief and headed towards Virgil's car.

It was finally time to go ice skating. It would be so cold and slippery, but ridiculously romantic. Virgil was ecstatic, a strange flurry of excitement buzzing in the pit of his stomach. He had promised to catch Roman, but with the way the warmth of Roman's touch thrummed under his skin— a side effect of the soulmate bond— he knew already that he would be the one falling.

Once they got into the car, Virgil buckled up and turned to Roman, a teasing smile tugging at his lips. "Does purple not look good on me?" he joked in reference to the bruise across his face that was mostly covered with his pale foundation.

"Aside from the fact that you look amazing in purple, I don't want you to get hurt again. Not only do I hate seeing you get hurt, but it literally hurts me too."

Virgil hummed in response before starting the car.

***

They arrived at the ice rink in no time, and as he chuckled to himself about something Virgil had said during the drive, Roman got out of the car. He stepped up beside Virgil in the parking lot and slid his hand into his, threading their fingers together, before heading into the building and stopping at the check-in area. The two of them got their skates, and after putting them on, they wobbled towards the rink entrance with Roman holding onto Virgil's arm to help steady himself.

Virgil decided that he was perfectly safe holding onto the outer wall and never leaving it so he could just pull himself along it and not fall. Roman, on the other hand, scooted unsteadily out into the open to attempt to skate. The quiet emo found himself glad there weren't too many people there, so if one of them fell, they wouldn't have to worry about accidentally tripping someone.

There were several times where Roman nearly fell, his skates slipping on the ice as his feet threatened to slide out from underneath him. He moved like he was a baby deer just learning how to use his legs, and Virgil couldn't decide whether that was adorable or hilarious. Every time the actor slipped, he reached out and grabbed onto Virgil's arm to steady himself. Eventually, he just grabbed onto Virgil's hand as a precaution, twining their fingers together.

"Oh, so it's an 'if I fall, you fall' situation. I see..." Virgil teased. He really didn't want to leave the edge, but he supposed he would since Roman was being all cute. So, with his hand still in Roman's, he shuffled forward, looking sheepishly up at him.

"You promised you'd catch me if I fell," Roman said with a small smile and a shrug. "Just taking precautions, Stormcloud. Plus, I figured your hand could use some warming up." He gave Virgil's freezing hand a gentle squeeze.

"I guess since I _promised_ ," the shorter male mused casually, as if his face wasn't redder than the hoodie he was wearing. It wasn't fair, truly, that Roman was able to fluster him so much with a simple smile.

Roman reached over and took his other hand as well, twining his fingers between Virgil's and pulling him a little bit closer until they were maybe an inch apart. Close enough that their breath hung between them in a fog.

He let go of one of Virgil's hands for a moment and gently pressed his fingers underneath the emo's chin, coaxing his chin up slightly. He leaned close and pressed a soft kiss against his lips, his fingers lingering under his chin for a beat before he reclaimed his hold on Virgil's hand.

Every inch of him that touched Virgil was thrumming with a comfortable warmth that felt like home, and he wanted to press into the warmth, wanted to live in it forever. When they eventually broke apart, smiling softly at each other, Roman pulled Virgil along with him to skate.

He managed to make a full lap around the rink without falling over. The both of them were peacefully quiet, the only sound between them being that of their skates on the ice. They were freezing, the cold stinging against their skin and bringing a light pink cast to both of them from the other's pain.

They made their way to the center of the rink, getting more confident in their skating abilities. And they were successful for a minute... and then Roman lost his balance, his legs slipping out from underneath him as all the air rushed from his lungs and he toppled to the ice, pulling Virgil down with him. The emo landed on top of Roman, his legs straddling over one of Roman's, and their still-entwined hands rested on Roman's chest.

After the initial pain wore off, Virgil stared down in awe at Roman. He was absolutely beautiful, his blond curls sprawled out in a golden contrast to the pale blue of the ice and the red that flushed across his cheeks. His bright green eyes peering up at him, practically shining in mirth, a smile tugging at his perfect lips. He looked... _ethereal_.

"Guess I'm falling for you," Roman joked softly, though Virgil could see by the way his blush darkened ever so slightly— something he would have missed if he wasn't literally laying on top of him— that he wasn't entirely joking. Not that he could say he wasn't falling for him, too. How could he not be?

With a small chuckle, Virgil slid his hand underneath Roman's head, claiming his lips with his own. A small noise of surprise came from Roman at the gentle press of lips, but he quickly dissolved into it, into the warmth of Virgil's touch that he loved so much. Only a moment passed before Virgil pulled away and Roman whispered, "We should get up off the ground, V."

Virgil rolled off of Roman, landing on his back next to him, and then effortlessly sat up, slipping and sliding as he tried to stand. Roman simply lay on the ice like a helpless damsel, and after Virgil had won his battle with the ice, he offered his hand with a chuckle.

Finally back on his feet, Roman threaded his fingers through Virgil's and pressed their foreheads together. "Do you want to go get some cocoa? Warm up a little?"

Virgil grinned and nodded before being pulled out of the rink. Once their shoes were back on and their skates were handed in, Roman brought Virgil across the street to a small coffee shop. In no time at all, the two teens were seated at a table, watching each other with pink faces, cradling cups of cocoa in their hands to warm their palms.

Virgil was well aware of the fact that his face was burning red, but he wasn't sure whether it was from the cold or from blushing. Probably both, if he was being honest with himself. Between being so flustered by Roman today and the adorable fondness he was watching Virgil with, the emo had to resist the urge to just lean over the table and plant kisses all over Roman's stupid face.

"Is there a certain time you have to head home?" Roman asked after a long moment of comfortable silence, sipping from his cocoa.

Virgil shook his head. "My parents are pretty cool with me doing whatever, since I'm eighteen. I could tell them I'm spending the night and they wouldn't care, just as long as I told them so they knew not to wait up for me. Just using that as an example," he rushed to say, his cheeks flushing somehow even redder. "I don't mean I'd actually spend the night... Not, uh, not that I don't want to, I just..." He gave up on his explanation and buried his face in his arms in an attempt to hide the fact that he was blushing darker than he was sure was humanly possible.

A soft chuckle left Roman before he reached across the table and slid his hand in Virgil's. "My, um... my parents are out of town for the weekend if you'd like to. I don't have to ask to have someone over. Basically my one perk of turning eighteen a couple months ago." He chuckled again and Virgil's head perked up as he peered up at him.

He hadn't expected Roman to offer to let him stay, but he wasn't about to say no. "S-sure... only if you're sure you're okay with it."

"Of course I'm okay with it. I'm the one who offered."

Cocoa was finished in no time, and the two teens got back into the car that was still parked across the street at the ice skating rink before driving to a chicken diner a few blocks away and parking in the parking lot. As soon as the car was parked, Roman unbuckled and turned to Virgil, smiling smally as Virgil did the same.

"Do you want to wait a little bit longer to eat, or are you hungry now?" Virgil asked softly, his voice musing over the words. If Roman decided to wait, he had every intention of leaning over the center console between them and making out with him until they were hungry enough to pull away from each other's warmth.

"I can wait," Roman promised, and as his gaze flickered down to Virgil's lips, the dark-haired boy had to stifle a chuckle. It appeared they had had the same thought.

With a shake of his head and a smile, Virgil leaned forward and pulled Roman into a kiss, one hand resting on the back of his neck. He could feel a smile tugging at Roman's lips, and as the actor's hands reached over to rest on Virgil's hips, he felt sparks within the thrumming warmth of the touch on his sides.

His heart sped up and his hands slid around Roman's shoulders, one hand gripping lightly onto one of the patches on his jacket as he pulled him closer and tilted his head up further to deepen the kiss. He wanted to bask in this warmth forever. Wanted to drink in the feeling of him for as long as he would let him.

Neither of them were sure they could have gotten any more red until it really turned into a make-out session. Virgil's fingers toyed at the edge of Roman's hairline, his other hand still loosely gripping the fabric of the hoodie, and he softly bit at Roman's lip, to which Roman nipped Virgil's in exchange. A soft gasp left the emo as Roman took control over the kiss. It was hot, to put it simply. His fingertips kneaded at the back of Roman's neck, wishing with everything he had that the center console would just disappear so he could press closer to him.

Roman pulled away after a few more minutes, his cheeks and chest flushed red, and slightly panting, and he reached up, cradling Virgil's face in his hands, being careful not to touch anywhere near the bruise so he didn't hurt him. The way he was handling him, so delicately, as if he was the most precious thing in the world... Virgil was sure he was going to _literally_ melt right then and there. He gazed up at Roman, his brown eyes golden as they reflected the lights from the restaurant.

As much as he hated to admit it— because come on, they had only been dating for a couple days, and they weren't overly close before then— Virgil knew for a fact in that moment that he had fallen. Hard. He had dived head-first into the warmth that was Roman, and he didn't want to come up for air any time soon. There was no way in hell he was going to tell him just yet— that would be insane— but it was true.

Virgil Mercer was undeniably, completely in love with Roman Stokes.


	7. Tonight You Belong To Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil has the pleasure of meeting Roman's brother when he goes to spend the night with him. Fluff ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's some mild making out and Remus is... well, Remus.

Virgil and Roman eventually went into the diner to eat, and after a meal full of gentle teasing and plenty of hand-kisses, they made their way to Roman's house. As soon as they entered, Remus— who was sitting upside down on the couch, tongue sticking out slightly as he played a game that, by the sound of it, was very violent— greeted them.

"Sup, losers!" he called without looking away from the television screen.

Roman chuckled, rolling his eyes at his brother, before returning the greeting. "Hello to you, too. We'll be in my room if you need us."

Virgil bit back a grin as he was reminded with Roman's words that he was spending the night... with his boyfriend. The two of them made their way to the bedroom down the hall, and Roman shut the door behind them before taking a seat on a beanbag chair off to the side of the room, motioning for Virgil to come over. When he did, sinking down into the other beanbag chair, Roman grinned cheekily and grabbed his ukulele from where it was leaning against the wall.

The ukulele was already tuned perfectly— he made sure of it every morning, when he had free time— so he began strumming a random, sweet little tune that made Virgil smile as he watched him in awe, seemingly entranced by the music. It was a little strange; Roman had never played the instrument for someone else. Sure, he had played it plenty of times and he knew Remus was listening in, but it was different playing _for_ someone.

After a few moments of simple strumming, Roman got an idea, remembering Virgil knew how to play the ukulele. He stopped playing and held out the instrument for Virgil to take, and once he did, confusion crossing his face, Roman reached over and picked up his guitar.

"Do you want to play along?" Roman asked as he began tuning the guitar. He didn't play it as often as the ukulele or as the piano that was kept in the living room because there simply wasn't room for it in his bedroom.

Virgil grinned, a light blush painting itself across his cheeks as he nodded. He shifted his hold on the ukulele in his hands so he was holding it in the correct position. "I don't know that many songs, so I'll be improvising... I hope that's okay."

"Of course it's okay. I'll let you take the lead if you'd prefer. What songs do you know how to play?"

The emo thought for a moment, drumming his fingers along the body of the instrument as he did so. "Do you know I'm Yours? Or Tonight You Belong To Me? Those two are really easy to play."

Well, hell. Both of those options were ridiculously romantic and adorable, and the fact that those had been Virgil's first thoughts made Roman blush. "We can do Tonight You Belong To Me."

He watched as the pink across Virgil's cheeks darkened, and the smaller male nodded and nervously began to brush his fingers over the strings of the small instrument in his hands. Roman was absolutely awestruck, a grin tugging at his lips. It took him a moment to break out of his awe, but once he did, he joined in on the playing, his fingers strumming over the guitar strings.

Roman sang the song softly and sweetly, the words tumbling from his lips with a seemingly practiced ease, as if he had sung the song a million times before. And with each perfectly sung word, Virgil began grinning, enjoying the feeling of being serenaded. When it got to the title, he sang along, taking a lower harmony. Hearing Virgil sing along with him, Roman stuttered over his words, his grin widening as his blush darkened. He recovered quickly, however, and the two of them played through to the end of the song before setting down their instruments.

"I love spending time with you, Princey," Virgil confessed after a moment of contentment. It didn't seem to capture exactly what he wanted to say, but it was enough. For now, at least.

"And I love getting to spend time with you, too, V."

Hearing those words from Roman, even though they weren't exactly the words that either of them wanted to say, brought chills sprouting along Virgil's spine. The emo inched his hand forward, lacing their fingers slowly together, and he felt the familiar thrumming warmth in every inch of Roman's skin that touched his. He knew that even with the warmth of the bond between them, Roman could feel that his hands were cold to the touch, and he felt bad for that, but he wanted so badly to be close to him.

Without a moment's hesitation, Roman took Virgil's other hand, pressing a kiss to the back of each of them as a smile tugged at his lips. "Thank you for agreeing to stay tonight."

"Thank you for letting me," he returned, positively glowing at the tender kisses and the soft look Roman was giving him that made him feel weak. "Wanna watch a movie, or did you have something else in mind for tonight?"

"A movie sounds great. We'll have to go in the living room, though, and Remus might bug us." At this, Virgil's mouth slanted in thought, his nose scrunching up. On one hand, a movie sounded really nice— getting to curl up on the couch with Roman while some Disney movie played and they cuddled up real close— but Remus might prevent that. Seeing Virgil's hesitation, Roman added, "I can kick him out of the living room, if that makes it an easier decision. I just can't guarantee he'll stay out."

Virgil laughed and nodded, getting to his feet and holding out a hand to help Roman up. "Alright, let's go."

The two of them made their way to the living room, and Remus looked up from the television. "We're gonna be watching a movie, Re, you gotta go," Roman informed him.

"What? You're just gonna kick me out of the living room? What if I want to join?"

"Come on, please. You can pause your game and I'll switch to the other system so you don't have to close out the game."

"What? Are you gonna French him or something?" he asked as he quickly got to a point in his game where he could save safely.

Virgil blushed behind Roman's back, pressing his face against his shoulder blade in embarrassment at Remus's crude bluntness. Remus didn't wait around for an answer to his question, somehow knowing that Roman wasn't going to give one. He instead paused his game and changed the television to the other system before getting up from the couch and leaving the living room with a bounce in his step.

Roman grinned at Virgil, leading him to the recently vacated couch. The two of them sank into the soft cushions and Roman draped his arm around Virgil's shoulders as he began flipping through Netflix for a movie. Pressing a kiss to the top of Virgil's head, he asked, "What kind of movie do you want to watch?"

"I heard they added the Princess and the Frog a couple weeks ago..." he suggested. If he said he wasn't a bit flustered by being this close to Roman— having only ever been this close to him briefly at the ice skating rink— he would be lying. His heart pounded in his chest as he nuzzled into the space just below Roman's shoulder. Close to his heart.

"Princess and the Frog it is," Roman replied. He turned on the movie, set aside the remote, and wrapped his other arm around Virgil so he was embracing him firmly against his chest.

Virgil could hear his heart racing, and he smiled softly as he nuzzled closer. He didn't pay too much attention to the movie, not listening to the songs. The music Roman made with the beat of his heart, however, was the most beautiful sound Virgil had ever heard in his life. Virgil only made it to the beautiful animation in one of the swamp scenes before he was asleep. His legs were laid across Roman's lap, nearly sitting on top of him but not quite, arms wrapped loosely around his waist as his head was nuzzled into the curve of Roman's neck, basking in the comfortable warmth that his soulmate emitted.

As the movie neared its end, Roman noticed that Virgil had fallen asleep, and he leaned back a little to where they were mostly laying down so that Virgil would be more comfortable. He pressed a kiss to the top of his head, smiling at how adorable he was in his sleep, his breathing slow and even, and his face entirely calm.

At some point during the wedding scene, Roman glanced down at Virgil again and saw that he had woken up and was watching him, his brown eyes bright in the mostly dark room. He smiled sweetly and pressed a kiss to Virgil's forehead before nodding towards the television, where the prince and princess were kissing.

"Can I kiss myself a prince?" he asked softly. He knew it was a stupid, cheesy line, but he didn't care.

With a groggy smirk, Virgil leaned forward, his chin tilted upwards to angle his head properly to be able to kiss him. He paused right before Roman's lips, taking a moment to feel the warmth of his breath, before he closed the distance between them. Virgil's hands slid underneath Roman's shirt to feel the warmth of his skin against his palms, the skin contact drawing a gasp from the blonde's lips as his cheeks flushed pink.

Virgil's hands remained in the same spot, never grabbing or sliding lower. He wasn't trying to evocate anything more intimate than this, and he was silently relieved when Roman didn't try to either. He did, however, love the fact that he had elicited a gasp from his boyfriend, and he wanted to hear that again. And he knew just how to draw it out of him. So he nipped gently at Roman's bottom lip, and the gasp that he felt against his lips was a silent victory.

One of Roman's hands slid up to the back of Virgil's neck, fingers slipping into his hair as he gently held him. The gentleness of his touch, and the way his skin thrummed warmly against Virgil's... oh, he could just die.

Somehow without the two of them noticing, Remus walked back into the living room, plopping down on the armchair beside the couch and wolf whistling at them. Virgil broke away from Roman with a noise of surprise and hid his dark red face in Roman's chest.

"Remus," Roman huffed, turning to glare at his laughing brother as he rubbed Virgil's back. "What are you doing out here?"

"Embarrassing your boyfriend." A pause. "And it was getting boring just sitting in my room doing nothing."

Roman rolled his eyes at Remus, knowing there was no point in trying to argue with him. He looked down at Virgil, kissing his head to make him bring his face out of hiding and meet Roman's eyes. "Are you ready for bed, V?"

Virgil nodded, a yawn leaving him as if to exemplify his fatigue, and he wrapped his arms around Roman's neck before nuzzling against him again. In a moment, Roman's arms were wrapped firmly around Virgil and he was getting up from the couch, lifting him up in his arms as he did and carrying him to the bedroom. It was a little difficult, as he wasn't as strong as Virgil was, but he managed just fine. Besides, he wasn't completely weak, his dance class having just ended a little over a month ago and he still had some of his muscle mass from lifting the ballerinas.

As he carried Virgil, the smaller male nuzzled into his neck, drawing a small noise of surprise from him at the close intimacy— as if Roman wasn't literally carrying Virgil to his bed. Once he got to the bedroom, he set Virgil down on the mattress and took Virgil's hoodie off of himself before climbing under the blankets with him and sliding his arms around Virgil's waist, holding him close. The dark-haired emo curled up to Roman's chest as he was held. And soon enough, he was drifting off to blissful sleep. 


	8. The Calm Before the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next morning is domestic and peaceful. Things couldn't be better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More Remus shenanigans.

When Roman woke in the morning with Virgil in his arms, the thrumming warmth of his body even warmer and more comfortable than the bed itself, it took him a moment to remember just what was going on. To remember why there was a warm person in his arms. When he did remember, he smiled softly and sleepily, opening his eyes and pressing a kiss to the top of Virgil's head. He brushed Virgil's hair away from his face with gentle fingers, admiring how beautiful he was in his sleep, how peaceful.

When he felt Roman's fingers brushing against his forehead, Virgil began to stir, his face scrunching up as he nuzzled into Roman's chest. Roman decided that this was his new favorite way to wake up, with his boyfriend curled up against his chest, nuzzling into him, sharing their warmth under blankets.

"Good morning, Virgil," he mused softly with another kiss to Virgil's head.

"Morning, Ro," he echoed, his voice deep and scratchy from the remnants of sleep. His eyes popped open and he looked up at Roman, a sleepy smile pulling at his lips.

Roman took a moment to marvel at Virgil. He hadn't thought it was possible for him to get more adorable, but apparently, he had been wrong. He somehow practically glowed against the white sheets that surrounded them, despite the fact that they accentuated just how pale the emo was. Roman pressed a light kiss to Virgil's lips, hardly more than a brush of skin, before pulling away and holding him closer.

"Just a few more minutes," Virgil murmured sleepily, nuzzling against Roman's chest as close as he could get, much to Roman's amusement. The two of them cuddled close for another moment before Virgil's stomach growled loudly, and he sat up with a sigh, pulling himself away from Roman. "I'm hungry," he noted when Roman whined in complaint of the loss of warmth. "What time is it?"

After checking his phone, Roman scrunched up his nose and groaned. "Nine-ish. Do you want to go somewhere for breakfast, or would you prefer a bowl of cereal? Because I think that's all we have in the house."

"Cereal sounds great." Virgil rolled over Roman, hopping up out of the bed, and with a grin, Roman followed.

The house was quiet— a little too quiet, Virgil decided, as he kept an eye out for Remus— as Roman led him to the kitchen and began making a bowl of Apple Jacks for each of them. Virgil got distracted in his look-out for the more chaotic twin as he watched in admiration of Roman. It was all so domestic and vulnerable, making breakfast— yes, even cereal— with messy morning hair in their pajamas. It made him feel as though he had been dating Roman for years, or even months, rather than the four days they had been together in reality.

Bowls were taken to the table and the two of them dissolved into comfortable quiet for a few minutes, Virgil's worries about Remus forgotten for the time being. And it seemed that as soon as the worries were gone from his mind that Remus entered the room, yawning widely and stretching his arms up above his head. Roman turned over his shoulder and when he saw that his brother was in a pair of short shorts— that read 'Bigfoot Ate My Ass' on the ass— and a crop top, he sighed and turned back around.

"Remus, what are you wearing?"

"Clothes," he stated, opening the fridge and grabbing out the milk. "Be glad I'm wearing anything."

He went to drink out of the milk carton, and Roman turned around again when he heard the fridge close. He got up from his seat immediately and snatched the carton away from him, not wanting him to ruin the entire jug of milk. With a sigh, he grabbed a cup from the cupboard and poured some milk into it before returning the jug to the fridge.

"You take the fun out of everything!" Remus complained in an overly-obnoxious voice. Virgil chuckled to himself with a roll of his eyes. He didn't see how they could be related— they were polar opposites in every way apart from their affinity for dramatics— but he found their brotherly rivalry hilarious. "What'd you two lovebirds get up to last night? Anything fun?" Remus wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, making Virgil's face flush red.

Roman pressed the cup of milk into Remus's hand with a chuckle. "Not that it's any of your business," he began, reclaiming his seat at the table and sliding his hand into Virgil's. "But we just went to sleep. We were both pretty tired."

"Oh, I bet you were all kinds of worn out." He winked, hiding his grin with a sip from his cup.

At this, Virgil nearly choked on his cereal, breaking into a coughing fit that made Remus laugh at his successful embarrassment. Roman rubbed his back to help him finally stop coughing, and he pressed a kiss to his head. "Ignore him. He'll go away eventually."

"Nice try, _Princey_ ," Remus chuckled, teasing Roman with the nickname Virgil had adorned his brother with and set his cup on the table between them, crouching down in the middle of their two chairs. Virgil averted his gaze to the ceiling, highly embarrassed at the scantily dressed boy crouching close to the ground between them. "I'm not going anywhere."

Roman pushed at Remus's shoulder, knocking him off balance. The chaotic twin gasped in shock as he tumbled to the floor. After a second, he scrambled to his feet, grabbing his cup of milk and walking out of the kitchen, making sure to flip Roman off in the process.

"I'm sorry about him, Virgil," Roman chuckled, shaking his head after his brother. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," he laughed in response, bringing his gaze to his boyfriend. "What time do you want me to leave?"

Roman paused, wrinkling his nose as he thought. Whereas he didn't want Virgil to leave at all, he knew that it wasn't realistic to ask him to stay all day. "You can head out whenever you want to," he decided. "I'm in no hurry."

Roman and Virgil spent the morning running lines, getting frequently sidetracked in each others' lips and flinching apart at the sound of things falling over in Remus's room. And after Virgil left around noon, Roman spent his weekend practicing playing his instruments, mostly to take up the time. He would occasionally stop playing his ukulele, his fingers running lightly and silently over the strings as he basked in the memory of Virgil playing the instrument. And when Monday came, he was more than ready to get back to school to see him.

The next month or so was absolutely wonderful. Everything was calm and steady, with no encounters with James. Virgil was over at Roman's every time they didn't have rehearsal, and when they did, they always found moments to slip away with each other. Life as soulmates, they quickly learned, was filled with laughter, blushing, and contented comfort.

That is, until everything came crashing down around them.


	9. The Mark of Soulmates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a steady month of dating, things are going incredibly, especially since James hasn't bothered Roman with Virgil always with him. That is, until Virgil is late for school and Roman is breaking down on the bathroom floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Car crash, bullying, cursing, injury, and tears.

It was a regular Tuesday when it happened. It had hailed the night before, making the world dull and wet, the roads slick.

Virgil sped to school, knowing he was going to be late- having spent his morning doing a full face of makeup to impress Roman, rather than the simple foundation and black eyeshadow he was used to. He had accentuated his cheekbones with a simple contour, paled his skin a little bit more than normal, and while he _did_ put the black eyeshadow on his eyes, he had added a little bit of red to it, beautifully complimenting the smooth brown of his eyes.

It wouldn't be such a big deal that he was running late if not for his worry about Roman. Virgil being late left Roman alone and vulnerable with only Logan to potentially protect him, as Remy was always late in the mornings, getting coffee, and Patton, he imagined, couldn't do much in the way of protection. He knew Roman could defend himself if James decided to cause trouble - he wasn't completely helpless - but it still unnerved him.

He was halfway there.

Maybe he could make it in time.

His hands shook as he gripped the steering wheel, staring up at the traffic light at an intersection, praying it would soon turn green so he could get to Roman. Why was he so anxious?

***

Roman did his best to stay out of the way. He really did. With Virgil running late - or just absent - today, he stuck to the edges of the cafeteria while waiting for school to start. He didn't want James to see that he was alone - well, without Virgil. Logan and Patton were here, of course. But they were lost in each other.

He could defend himself just fine. Had been doing so for years. But that didn't mean he particularly wanted Virgil to feel the pain of him getting punched in the stomach or face as would inevitably happen if he and James got into a confrontation.

Eventually, the theatre nerd got to his feet and headed to the bathroom.

James caught sight of Roman all alone, and took his opportunity. What else would he do for entertainment? He just loved seeing the boy squirm.

Ducking into the bathroom after him, the bully clutched onto the front of the black and violet hoodie he was wearing to keep him from running. "Been avoiding me, princess?" he spat.

Roman flinched away from him, bringing his hands up to try to take James' hand away from the front of the hoodie. He was going to rip it if he didn't let go, and this was Virgil's favorite hoodie. A part of him thought it was strange that that was his biggest worry right now - that James was going to tear Virgil's hoodie - but oh well.

"Fuck off, James."

"Why should I?" He shoved Roman harshly into the wall, causing pain to slam into his back hard enough that Roman knew that Virgil would feel it. The blonde shoved at James' chest, shoving him away with a defensive snarl.

"Because I don't want to deal with your shit today."

He made for the exit, having given up on being able to actually use the restroom.

***

Virgil should have called Roman that morning.

Texted him, even; said _something._

He should have told him he was running late, and to stay safe.

His foot inclined slightly on the gas pedal when the light turned green. He could make it, he could make it, he-

Pain unexpectedly exploded across his back, knocking the air from his lungs and causing him to jerk the wheel straight towards the car to his left. He tried to swerve so he didn't hit the vehicle, only to go off the road, the situation made worse by the slick ice on the road.

He counted the times the car flipped.

One.

Two.

Thr—

***

The guttural scream of agony rang through the small, echoey bathroom as Roman collapsed to the floor, slamming his knees against the tile, his skin flushing in varying shades of red as the physical marking of the pain ripping through him. He couldn't breathe.

Once the black spots in his eyes had finished their dance, his eyes went wide, his jaw slack.

"No, no, no, no, no," he mumbled, the words hardly audible through the gasping breath that shuddered its way past his lips.

Tears welled in his eyes at the overwhelming pain, and he screwed them shut, begging for this all to go away. 

For it to not be true.

His entire body trembled as he scrambled into his pocket for his phone, only to find that he'd dropped it when James grabbed him. It had slid out into the hall, out of his reach, and as he looked, he could see Patton and Logan breaking into a dead sprint towards him from the cafeteria- they must have heard the scream: _everyone_ must have- but couldn't find it in himself to care about anything other than getting to his phone. God, he just needed to call Virgil, _please_. Yet he knew that he wouldn't be able to get up to grab it, not with the aching, throbbing, downright _torturous_ pain coursing through every part of him.

"Phone," he gasped out in request, looking up at James. And the bully was so shaken by the turn of events that he actually complied.

James only did this for the thrill, he never meant to seriously injure someone.

He grabbed the phone and tossed it to Roman where it clattered to the floor, cracking the screen, and he would have mourned it if he were not already mourning something.

Patton was by his side in an instant, practically sliding to his knees, terrified at the state Roman was in. Meanwhile, Logan glared at James calmly, clenching his jaw. "What did you do?"

With a shake of his head towards Logan, Roman swallowed and gasped for breath, pressing the contact icon for Virgil. Patton understood what was happening as soon as he saw Roman press the icon, and tears began to spill from his eyes, wetting his cheeks as he sat silently beside his friend on the bathroom floor.

Virgil wasn't answering.

Roman called twice before he yelled in frustration, gritting his teeth and setting his phone down on the floor, holding his head in his trembling hands.

Logan looked down at Roman, frozen in confusion, before realization hit, and his eyes widened, his voice coming out in a shocked whisper, "Virgil."


	10. A Patchwork Hoodie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil, his soulmate, and all of his friends except for the one he needs most rush to the hospital. Will he be okay?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Aftermath of a car crash, blood, tears, and just angst in general.

The piercing sound of sirens shot through the dull quiet of the world.

Where was he again?

The world was spinning.

Squeezing him.

Everything hurt, and yet...

And yet he felt nothing at all.

His warm, wet fingertips grazed something cold and sharp.

What was that?

Why were his fingers wet?

It was glass.

Blood.

Ice.

And he was being lowered.

Lowered? Why lowered?

Oh, he was upside down.

That's right.

The last thing he felt before the darkness claimed him was the feeling of being lifted.

***

Patton and Logan pulled Roman up off the floor. He was sobbing. His cheeks were soaked with the salty tears and his breath was coming in hiccuping gasps. And everyone... they were all watching— whispering, but Roman's dignity and social status were at the bottom of their list of worries at the moment. Whatever rumors came about could be dealt with after Virgil was okay again— after he was back in his desk at school by Roman's side, smiling.

It hurt to see their normally composed friend so broken like this.

"He'll be at the hospital, right?" Patton raced to gain some control over the situation. Raced to make everything better. Raced to help.

Logan's fists were tightly clenched and his face looked like the most forced thing anyone had ever seen. Other than that, he was expressionless.

Wordless.

Composed.

For the logical thing to do was to not jump to conclusions, to keep his friends calm, and to be able to drive if Patton lost his composure aside from the brushed-away tears. After it was all over, after he was alone, then he could cry. Just not right now.

None of them said a word as they got into the car and pulled out of the parking lot. They could concern themselves with what the teachers were going to say about them skipping later. Right now getting to Virgil and tending to Roman was all that mattered.

The world floated in and out of focus as Roman sat silently in the back seat, save for the sobs that heaved his body and no longer relinquished any tears; the trembling groans and whimpers that hadn't stopped since the first scream. He vaguely heard Patton saying something, though the words sounded as though they were drifting through a heavy fog, muffled in his ears.

"-oman?"

He snapped out of his thoughts with a few rapid blinks and a firm shake of his head. Patton was watching him, concern in his eyes, turned halfway around in his seat.

"Are you still in pain?" the blue-eyed male asked, and from his tone of voice - gentle and yet impatient - Roman knew he had asked it several times before.

A quick bob of his head in response.

A reflex.

A lie.

He shook his head and allowed his shoulders to rise and fall.

He didn't know.

Everything hurt, but was it _actual_ pain anymore?

Or was it mere echoes left behind by a breathless soulmate?

Patton sighed shakily, bringing up a trembling hand into his own hair, combing it back from his face. "Okay. That means he's still alive, right?" He looked to Logan for some guidance, but it was obvious that Logan was perhaps even more at a loss for what to do than Patton.

Logan opened his mouth to say something. What, though, he wasn't sure.

It didn't matter.

The moment he opened his mouth, burning pain shot through Roman. Every muscle in his body tensed at once and his spine arched away from the back of the seat, the pain ripping another scream from his throat. In that instant, he couldn't figure out where the pain was coming from, but it felt like his bones were snapping. The sharp noise startled both males in the front seat, though to his credit, Logan did nothing more than flinch and keep his eyes steadily on the road. Patton, however, whipped his head around again to look at Roman.

"What is it?" he asked insistently, the worry in his voice increasing drastically.

As he worked to catch his breath, his chest heaving, Roman was able to try to focus on figuring out where the pain was coming from. "My shoulder," he replied after a moment, voice shaking as violently as the rest of him. "I think maybe... I think he broke his and they were setting it."

Clenching his jaw, Logan pulled into the parking lot of the hospital. Together, he and Patton helped Roman out of the car and led him to the building, as there was no way he was walking on his own. The receptionist leapt to their feet when they entered, urgent concern in their eyes as they took in Roman's state. He, however, just waved his hand in dismissal.

He was fine.

Apart from the pain.

Apart from the not-knowing what happened.

Apart from the terror that settled in his chest.

"I need to see Virgil Mercer."

Furrowing their eyebrows, the receptionist looked to the computer, quickly typing in the name. "We... don't seem to have anyone listed by that name yet," they said as they looked up from the screen to Roman again. "What is your relation?"

Before he could answer, however, the door behind them meant for those arriving by way of ambulance was thrown open and someone was rushed in on a gurney.

Someone covered in bruises.

Someone obviously broken in several places.

Someone dripping crimson blood along the floor.

Someone clearly restraining himself from writhing in pain.

As soon as Roman saw him, his jaw fell slack and his stomach twisted in a painful dread, the shrieking of Virgil's name leaving his lips as the reality of everything hit him. He tried to run to him, tried to break free of Logan and Patton's arms, but he was just as weak as the boy on the gurney. The boy that _somehow_ registered his name, turning his head to lock eyes with Roman for the briefest of desperate moments. That was all he got.

A moment.

What if it was the last?

The gurney was rushed down the ICU hall, doctors shouting orders both at nurses and each other. Then Roman's blood-stained hoodie vanished from view, and left him clutching at the stitches of Virgil's.

If not for Patton's and Logan's hands supporting him, his knees would have given out then and there.

Finding that the arms around him had loosened there death grip on him, Roman slipped out of them and moved towards the door on shaky legs, only to be stopped by the receptionist informing him that he wasn't allowed back there right now. He was instructed to sit in the waiting room, and although he obeyed, he was very obviously angry about it.

He glared - somehow managing to look concerned at the same time - at the door, bouncing his leg the best he could with the pain throbbing through his body.

He needed to see Virgil.

Needed to get through that door.

Needed to know that he was okay.

Needed him to be okay.

Needed him to survive this.

He should have felt at ease by the sudden loss of pain, but he felt anything but. His mind went to the worst of places, his stomach sinking as he swallowed thickly.

Virgil was dead.

He was.

He was gone and dead and that was why he wasn't feeling the pain anymore.

That had to be the only explanation.

There was nothing else it could be...

Roman couldn't breathe.

Couldn't think.

Tears burned in his eyes, but the pain was nothing compared to the cold numbness that settled over his entire body. The world faded from view again as he sobbed, his entire body trembling violently. He hugged himself tightly, his nails digging into the sleeves of Virgil's hoodie, and he doubled over, the sobs coming from the depth of his stomach - tugging at it. Before he could register anything happening, Logan was kneeling in front of him, trying to meet his eyes.

Logan?

It was strange to see the usually stoic nerd so worried.

So afraid.

"Roman, what happened?" he asked as calmly as he could manage, though there was no hiding the tremor in his voice.

"I... I don't... I can't..." The sobbing man's breath came in hiccuping gasps, cutting off his words every time he tried to speak.

He sounded pathetic.

He didn't care.

"I don't feel him anymore."


	11. Lost Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remy finds out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Violence, crying, mentioned car crash, and mentioned past alcoholism.

Remy Bentz got to school at the same time he always did. That didn't mean, however, that he got there on time. The coffee-addicted teen was hardly ever on time for school, waking up late every morning and still stopping at Starbucks before trudging his way into school fifteen minutes late, and he was especially late when he had no motivation to come to school because he was already anticipating being forgotten by all of his freshly-in-love friends.

It was a miracle, really, that he hadn't been given detention for being late as often as he was.

As he sat at his desk in first period - after a second's glare from the teacher at walking in late without a pass - Remy started hearing... whispers.

"Did you hear..."

"...He turned red..."

"...James flipped..."

"...weird, quiet emo kid..."

As he heard the hushed tones of the students around him, Remy began stringing together bits and pieces of what they were talking about. James was Roman's bully. Yeah, he picked on other kids, too, but what other kids were associated with a 'weird, quiet emo kid'?

Roman turned red?

A sinking panic twisted his stomach up in knots, and he swallowed thickly. People turned red when their soulmate was hurt. Even though he himself had never experienced that - he was sure he didn't even _have_ a soulmate... Either that, or his was just the most careful human being on the planet - he knew enough about the subject to understand that much.

Was Virgil-

No...

No, Virgil was fine.

"... guttural scream..."

Virgil was in his first period class, probably not paying attention to the teacher and either doodling on a page or passing notes to Patton.

"...sobbing in the middle of the floor..."

He was _fine_.

"...didn't see the body, but I passed the car..."

He was-

"...completely destroyed..."

The teacher cleared her throat to catch the class's attention, having noticed that most of the class was whispering amongst themselves rather than paying attention to the lesson. "I understand that what happened this morning was rather scary," she began, and the sinking dread in Remy's stomach twisted painfully, his heart in his throat. "But we have to resume class anyways. We will let you all know if and when the status of the student has been released."

No.

No.

**_No._ **

"Virgil," Remy whispered before getting up from his seat and rushing out of the room, ignoring the call from the teacher, telling him to sit back down. He raced down the hallway, the sound of his shoes hitting the laminate floor matching in time and rhythm to his racing pulse.

With trembling hands, he pulled his phone from his pocket and - by some miracle - managed to unlock it and open up his contacts without dropping it. He pressed the contact he had saved for Virgil, and he listened as it rang...

And rang...

And rang...

God, why wasn't he answering?

And why was his first period class so far from his?

When he was sent to voicemail, he cursed under his breath and pressed the contact for Roman as he turned the corner and counted the doors to Virgil's class.

He practically sobbed in relief when the call picked up, but his relief was short-lived when Patton was the one who spoke up.

"Remy..." he began calmly and gently, though it was obvious to someone as close to him as Remy was that he had been crying. He could hear it in his voice.

" _I don't feel him anymore._ " Remy's heart leapt into his throat when he heard Roman's strained, sobbed words in the background.

No.

Virgil was fine.

He wasn't...

He was going to be okay.

"Patton, where the _fuck_ is Virgil?"

"Remy," he repeated in that calm and gentle tone of his that he used when he was trying to defuse a situation. And God dammit, it'd never been more infuriating than it was in that moment to Remy.

He finally - **_finally_** \- reached the classroom and wrenched the door open, chest heaving as his breath came in quick gasps. His eyes fell on the three empty seats in the center of the class in the same instant that Patton spoke up again, and he swore his heart stopped.

"There's been an accident."

No...

No...

Oh, _God_.

"Can I help you with something, Mr. Bentz?" the teacher asked, raising an eyebrow at the disruption.

"I..." His voice sounded absolutely wrecked, as though he had been spending the last two minutes screaming at the top of his lungs. In reality, however, the tense hoarseness of his voice was caused by being forced out around the lump in his throat as he fought back tears. He lowered his phone from his ear, not registering what Patton had been trying to say to him anymore anyways. He locked eyes with James, who sat in the far back corner, and he spoke on instinct alone, his voice steady and cold. "I was sent for James Starkey."

The bully's face paled - he knew how protective Remy was of Virgil, (his friends had had to hold him back after he'd seen the bruises on Virgil's face), but he got to his feet nonetheless. With a sigh, the teacher wrote out a hall pass for James and handed it to him in passing. Remy hung up his phone and shoved it into his pocket before following James out of the classroom.

As soon as the door shut behind them, he grabbed ahold of James' shirt and slammed him against the wall. James' face twisted in pain as his shoulder slammed against the brick, and it seemed as though all the fight had left him. This morning had well and truly shaken him - he couldn't stop seeing Roman in his head, collapsed on the bathroom floor, every inch of his skin a bright red shade.

"What the _fuck_ did you do?" Remy snapped, but before James had a chance to even attempt to reply, he struck. His fist connected with the side of the bully's jaw, whipping his head to the side as a noise of surprised pain tore itself from his mouth.

"I didn't mean-"

His words were cut off when the infuriated teen in front of him slammed his fist with all the force he could muster into his stomach.

" _Bullshit_!" he yelled, not even caring that he was definitely going to attract attention from any of the classrooms around them.

He landed another hit.

And another until his knuckles were as bruised as James' face would be and he didn't think he could stand it anymore.

James didn't even try to block him.

He knew he deserved this, knew that he'd probably caused that kid— _Virgil_ — to die, and knew exactly how it felt to have someone beneath your fist, so Remy had every right.

"I _can't_ lose him," Remy growled out through gritted teeth. "Not again. Not because a _bastard_ like you can't keep your _fucking_ hands to yourself." He clenched his fists tightly enough that his knuckles flushed white under the bruises that were beginning to blossom, and his nails dug into his palms. "I'm not going to lose him, Starkey. I'm not... I can't."

"I know," the bully panted out in a breath. "I know. I'm sor--"

"Shut _up_!" He drew his fist back and brought it forward, and James flinched on instinct alone, ducking aside.

His fist connected with all his strength into the brick wall, pain shooting up his arm as he was sure at least one of the bones in his hand had been shattered.

It didn't matter.

There was nobody to feel it but him.

The door to the classroom he had pulled James out of opened and the teacher rushed out, having heard the yelling and when she saw the state the two boys were in, she hurried forward, giving instruction to one of her students to call the principal. He let go of James, giving in, and stepped back with a, "You killed him." His back found its way against the wall, not really caring about much else, and he slid down it to hide from the world that had taken everything from him. "He's dead. He's—"

The world passed in a blur to Remy as he was sent first to the nurse's office, and after he refused to go home and his hand was wrapped in a bandage, he was sent to the in-school suspension room.

He should have gone home.

But he knew that if he went home, he would want to go see Virgil. And he couldn't do that.

He couldn't see him like that.

Broken.

Bruised.

Bloodied.

Shrouded in white.

Lifeless.

He vaguely recognized a buzzing in his pocket from his phone as someone called him, but he didn't pick it up. After the buzzing stopped, there were a few short buzzes from him getting a voicemail, and then a few texts.

Patton, probably.

Telling him that Virgil was dead.

Telling him that Virgil was gone.

Telling him that his rock, his protector, the one who had gotten him through the darkest point in his life and never once batted an eye or said a word of contempt towards him, the one who he had fallen so irrevocably in love with - though he knew he could never utter a word about it to anyone - was dead.

He didn't even notice the tears that started to fall at first. Sure, he felt the stinging pain in his eyes that signalled that he was crying, but he couldn't pinpoint the exact moment that the tears spilled over. When his vision blurred to the point that he couldn't see very much, he brought one hand up to wipe at his eyes. Feeling the tears, his supposed, was what broke the very last part of him.

The sobs tore through him like they were shattering every fiber of his being, loud and echoing in the otherwise silent room. Though he tried to muffle the sounds of them with a hand clasped over his mouth, the noises escaped nonetheless, shaking his body with each gasping breath. His free arm was wrapped tightly around his middle as he leaned over the desk, wanting to curl in on himself as he attempted to hold himself together lest he fall to pieces.

Virgil was gone.

His rock.

His protector.

His love.

The teacher in charge of watching over him was seriously considering just releasing him for the day so he could go home, or go see Virgil in the hospital. It was no secret to anyone who paid attention long enough that Remy was impossibly in love with the emo. Even the teachers knew. And although the name of the car crash victim hadn't yet been released, there was no doubt in anyone's minds who it was.

Even if he was released, Remy wouldn't have left.

He couldn't.

He couldn't go home and sit in the room he and Virgil had hung out in countless times before. Couldn't get in the car he and Virgil had ridden to school in before Virgil had gotten his license - having failed his driver's test the first couple times out of anxiety and panic. Couldn't go to the hospital. Couldn't see the tough-as-nails, doesn't-give-a-fuck boy he loved with everything he had... so broken.

So lifeless.

So _gone_.

But a part of him knew, underneath all the pain and agony that twisted in his chest, that he owed him that, at least. After everything Virgil had done for him - having pulled him back to his feet when he had drank himself into a stupor, having been there by his side through the withdrawals, having loved him despite it all, if even only platonically - he could visit him.

He owed him that much.


	12. Anesthesia Doesn't Work on Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman and Virgil finally get to see each other, and a newfound fear of losing the other brings them infinitely closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Hospital setting, injury, and tears.

"He's dead, Logan," Roman snapped, interrupting the nerd as he tried to calm him down after the revelation that he could no longer feel Virgil's pain. He could vaguely hear Patton talking to Remy on the phone beside him, trying to explain the situation and all that had happened, and it sounded foreign to his ears.

"...are you there? Remy?" Patton said after a moment, pausing and repeating the boy's name before the line went dead and he set the phone down with a worried sigh.

"M-maybe he's in surgery," Logan said, forcing back his own emotions so he could be the sense of reason among them. He could cry when he got home and there was no one there relying on him to be strong.

"He's **_dead_** ," Roman insisted, his voice cracking around the word that felt like broken glass in his throat. "He's gone, Logan, and it's... it's fucking James' fault."

Patton crumbled at this, any strength he had been holding onto depleting in an instant as he buried his head in his hands, hunching up where he sat on the chair as his body trembled with silent tears that burned a hot trail down his cheeks. Logan stayed safely in his state of denial. There was no way Virgil was anything but okay. He knew, statistically, that judging by the amount of pain Roman had been in and the state of the boy when he'd been pulled in on that gurney, it was entirely possible that Virgil wasn't coming out of this. Not in one piece, anyways. It was entirely possible that he was broken. Irreparably shattered. But that didn't mean that he was going to believe that until he saw it.

"He's just in surgery. He's okay, Roman. I'm sure of it," he said softly, more to himself than to Roman, getting up off his knees and reclaiming his seat beside Patton. He pulled his soulmate into his arms, holding him close to comfort him as Roman worked to calm himself down.

Though it was hard to feel calm in such a blindingly white and impersonal place that smelled of chemicals, not knowing if Virgil would make it out of here with a beating heart, and with the sight of his friends holding each other making him sick. Their soulmate was right there, holding them in protection from the world, and Roman's couldn't be... Might not ever be again.

The three of them sat there for at least half an hour without any word. Roman was about to get up and leave, sure that Virgil was dead - he still hadn't felt so much as an ache - when the doors Virgil had been wheeled through opened and a nurse exited, looking around the room. When her eyes landed on the trio, she approached, and Roman leapt to his feet, ignoring the lingering dread in his stomach.

"Are you Mr. Mercer's family?"

Roman nodded without hesitation before catching himself and clarifying. "I'm his boyfriend, and these are his friends."

"Right now, we have him stable, and we're just running a few tests. He should be fine, though." She continued to explain the injuries, including blood loss, head trauma, some deep wounds in his shoulder, but if he was being entirely honest, Roman zoned out after a minute. Virgil was okay. He was alive.

"Can I see him?" he interrupted without thinking as she was in the middle of explaining that Virgil had yet to regain consciousness, and was on some rather strong pain medication.

She blinked in surprise at the interruption. "My apologies, but for right now, while he is in Intensive Care, we can't allow anyone outside of family-"

"I'm his soulmate," Roman interjected once more, and the irritation that flashed in her eyes at being unable to even finish a sentence around this boy was clearly visible. "Please."

"Have you registered as soulmates?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow and looking him over.

"Registered?" His brows pulled together in confusion, and before he was able to ask any more, a couple burst in asking for Virgil.

Patton rushed over to them in an instant, explaining everything because he knew them best, having spent years hanging out with Virgil and seeing Virgil's parents as his own. Logan put a hand on Patton's shoulder, his other awkwardly in his front pocket, forever there to comfort him when he needed it.

"Look," the nurse continued after a second, letting out a sigh. "We just need proof that you're Mr. Mercer's soulmate. We can't be letting in just anybody, out of regards for his safety."

"How else would I have known to come here? He's hurt," Roman argued, clearly distressed to the point of nearly panicking right here and now. He had to see him.

She paused another moment before nodding decisively. "We'll let you know as soon as he's out of testing." With a sympathetic smile, she left the group of them, and Roman joined Patton and Logan in the conversation with Virgil's parents.

"They said he's stable. I... I'm so sorry."

"Thank you," Virgil's mother said as she wiped away the wetness of tears that stained her cheeks. "How did you know to come here?"

"I'm... uh..." Roman paused, not sure whether or not Virgil was out to his parents yet, and not wanting to out him if he wasn't. "When he was late to school, me and these two went to go see about picking him up and we passed the wreckage," he lied.

She gave Roman a small smile that was filled to the brim with relief that they had thought to come looking for Virgil when he hadn't shown up, as if that wasn't the obvious thing to do, and she threw her arms around Roman. "Thank you. For being here."

"Dear," Virgil's dad said gently, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Let's take a seat. I'm sure the doctor will be out in no time to tell us what's going on."

***

Virgil was slowly regaining awareness in the too-bright room he laid in, even if his mind wasn't the clearest and his eyes were still closed. A part of him knew that there were doctors around him, and he supposed he was getting scanned for internal injuries, but aside from that, he had no idea what was going on.

Everything felt wrong.

Or maybe he only thought everything felt wrong.

Could he feel anything at all?

Maybe that was what was wrong.

Everything was numb.

He was taken from one overly bright room to the next - the only telling sign being the shift in the shade of red he saw through his eyelids - and a door was shut behind him. There was a creeping feeling at the back of his mind that he was surrounded by people. Doctors, he supposed. The world faded into darkness once more, and by the time he came-to again, he was able to hear a steady clink, clink, clink against metal.

Glass shards, his brain told him. Glass being taken out of his skin.

It should have worried him how many small clinks there were - how many shards had been embedded in his skin - but as his mind flashed back to the crash, to the world turning upside down as everything shattered around him, it made sense.

His eyes fluttered open, tired of being closed, tired of being in the dark, and he squinted in the light, turning his head to look towards the doctor with the tweezers at his shoulder. A dull sort of pain shot through his neck, able to be felt even through the haze the medication put him under, and the pained groan that came from his lips sounded foreign to his ears.

"Don't move your head, sir," a kind voice on his other side told him, and hands were placed gently on his face, fingers easing his head back into its original position. "Can you hear me?" A light was shone in his eyes and he whimpered, flinching away from the brightness.

"Yes," he replied, and even just that one word was a Herculean effort, the sound rasping and grating on the inside of his throat.

"Do you remember your name?" the nurse asked, setting aside the light.

Virgil moved to nod and remembered she had told him not to move his head. "Virgil Mercer," he said instead, not missing the small, relieved smile that tugged at her lips. "Where's Roman?" Though he knew it shouldn't be, it was the most prevalent question at the forefront of his mind. He needed Roman. Needed the comfortable warmth his soulmate brought him. Needed to make sure he was okay. That he knew Virgil was okay.

"Are you feeling any pain, Mr. Mercer?"

"Wh- no. Where's Roman?"

"Mr. Mercer, we have to stitch up your shoulder, it's important for you to-"

"Where's Roman?" His voice was getting more desperate and insistent. Why weren't they telling him where Roman was? Was he okay? Was he even there, or had those eyes been a dream?

"I can assure you, whoever you're looking for is likely in the waiting room. We need to stitch up your shoulder before we can allow anyone in here, though. It's important for you to tell us if you feel any pain so we can give you another dose of anesthesia if it's necessary."

"I'm fine," Virgil insisted, hearing a clink of glass in a metal bowl that was louder than the others.

He turned his head once more, hissing as pain shot through the base of his skull, throbbing dully, and when he saw a large piece of glass - stained in his own blood - in the bowl on the bedside table, he swallowed thickly. He was perfectly compliant as the nurse gently moved his head back to its original position on the bed.

"I just want Roman."

***

After what felt like an eternity of sitting and waiting impatiently, bouncing his leg and chewing on his thumbnail, Roman perked up as he heard the door opening once more. The doctor spotted them and approached them, extending a hand to Virgil's parents.

"You must be Mr. Mercer's family."

"Yes," his mom nodded as his dad shook the doctor's hand, both of them getting to their feet. "Is our Virgil okay, doctor?"

The doctor led them through a similar speech he'd given the three boys, with the addition that they could now allow him to have visitors. "However, we can only have two at a time for the moment. We don't want to overcrowd the room and overwhelm him. Seeing as he is an adult, soulmates take priority, and I have been informed that Mr. Mercer's soulmate is here." He glanced around at the group of them, and all eyes slowly shifted to Roman.

It only made sense, seeing as Logan and Patton were pressed closely together, comforting each other, and the other two in the group were Virgil's parents, but seeing the confusion on Virgil's parents' faces made Roman realize that he was completely and utterly fucked. There was no way they didn't know now. What if Virgil wasn't out? What if they were homophobic? Roman and Virgil had never spoken much about Virgil's parents.

"You're our son's soulmate?" Virgil's dad asked curiously, raising an eyebrow. He didn't seem angry, so that was a good sign at least.

"Y... yes..."

"He never told us," his mom murmured under her breath before giving Roman a small smile to help calm his nerves. It helped. "Roman, right?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Well... Just take care of him for us. Tell him we'll be there as soon as we can."

Her smile turned grim, and Roman nodded, feeling a tinge of guilt at going to see Virgil before his parents had a chance to. And if he wasn't so worried about Virgil, he would have let his parents go see him first. But he was insanely worried, and he knew that at least a little bit of that worry would fade away when he could see with his own eyes that Virgil was alive and okay.

"I'll be quick so you can see him," he promised before following the doctor.

He was led through the doors and down a seemingly-endless white hallway lined with doors on either side, the silence unbearable, being broken only by the softly thudding footsteps on linoleum floors. The doctor gestured towards one closed door about halfway down the hall, and Roman took a deep breath, steeling his nerves, before entering the room.

Virgil was lying in that bed, looking much too small and much too pale. His face was covered in bruises that made Roman feel sick to look at. His left shoulder was bandaged and his left arm was in a sling, the doctor having mentioned something about it being dislocated. IV tubes were sticking out of his right hand, and he was completely still, his eyes shut. He looked... peaceful. If not for the steady beeping of the monitor beside the bed indicating Virgil's heartbeat, Roman would have thought he was dead.

"Virgil?"

The boy's eyes flew open, lips parting in a silent gasp of surprise when he saw Roman, a weak smile tugging at his lips. In that moment, all the worry that had been settled in the pit of Roman's stomach - twisting and churning in every second of the last couple hours - faded away in a single breath of relief, tears welling in his eyes for what felt like the millionth time today.

"Hey Princey," Virgil rasped.

What happened to his voice?

It didn't matter.

Only minutes ago, Roman had worried that he was never going to see him again, but here he was. A little banged up and bruised, sure, but here nonetheless.

With tears spilling over and rolling down his cheeks, Roman was at Virgil's bedside in a moment, pulling up a chair and sitting down to be a little closer to eye-level with him. "Hey," he whispered, afraid that if he spoke any louder, everything would fade away. Afraid that he would wake up and be back in that waiting room, having fallen asleep in that chair, waiting for any word that Virgil was alive.

Virgil reached out towards Roman, taking his hand with gentle fingers - though Roman supposed the touch was gentle because he didn't have the strength to show any more firmness. Roman was careful of the IV sticking out of the back of his hand, and he pressed a small kiss to Virgil's knuckles. Even through the warmth that the bond exuded through their skin, connecting them with a feeling that felt so very much like home, Roman could feel that Virgil's fingers were freezing. It was only right that he warm them like he always did.

"I can't really move my head," Virgil said softly, apologetically. "Whiplash, they said..."

Roman nodded, shifting where the chair was so that Virgil could see him a little better without having to turn his head. "That's okay, Virgil. Don't strain yourself. I'm right here."

Virgil met his eyes and gave a small smile, though his eyes were sad and shimmering with tears. "I must've hurt you pretty badly..." he commented guiltily, the tears spilling over and rolling slowly down his cheeks. "I'm so sorry."

Roman shook his head slightly as he reached forward, brushing Virgil's hair away from his face with a feather-light touch, being extra careful of the bruises. "It's not your fault." He brought his fingers down to wipe away Virgil's tears, though he knew it was a little odd to be wiping away Virgil's tears when his own cheeks were streaked in tear stains and fresh saltwater.

"I was doing my makeup," Virgil chuckled shortly, closing his eyes as more tears forced themselves out. Roman was quick to wipe those away, too. "That's why I was late."

He could see it now, as he was able to somewhat look past the bruising. It looked like he had spent hours on it, every bit of it careful and intentional. Something that he probably would have drooled over if their circumstances were different. "It looks beautiful."

A small smile graced Virgil's lips, and he rolled his eyes, shaking his head ever so slightly, careful not to hurt either of them. "Lay with me for a bit?" he requested, carefully shifting over a little on the bed, wincing as he felt a pull in his shoulder when he moved that told him without the pain medication, that would have hurt like a bitch. "There's room."

Roman hesitated half a second before nodding and climbing into the bed with Virgil, being careful not to jostle him too much. "I can't stay for too long. Your parents are in the waiting room, and the doctor said they can only have two visitors in here at a time."

"Oh..." the emo practically whimpered, not wanting Roman to have to leave already. He turned his head slowly, feeling the tenseness of his neck and being careful not to push them to the point of hurting through the medication. He just wanted to look at Roman up close for the first time that day. It seemed crazy, to him, that he had been up close with Roman just last night. Today felt like it had taken an eternity already, and he doubted it was after ten.

He ran his fingers along Roman's face, admiring the soft smile that Roman gave him in response to the gentle touch. His heart clenched and his stomach twisted as he thought that only a couple hours ago, he had been so absolutely sure he wasn't going to live to see that smile again. He loved Roman so much, and yet a part of him knew that he wasn't brave enough to tell him. He could face death and only shed a couple tears, but when it came to confessing his feelings - being vulnerable with someone he cared about - he was a coward.

"Kiss me?" Virgil whispered after a second of admiring his soulmate's face, of basking in the warmth that his body exuded. If it weren't for his neck, he would just close the distance between them himself, but he didn't want to risk hurting Roman more than he already had.

Lucky for Virgil, Roman was all too eager to press their lips together. He cradled Virgil's face between two hands, holding him as if he were the most precious thing on the planet, liable to shatter at any moment. Virgil's eyes slipped shut at the first brush of soft lips on his, and he returned the kiss the best he could, though his mind was still hazy from the medication, and his movements were sloppy at best. Even so, just being able to be here with Roman like this calmed him exponentially, so much so that the beeping of the heart monitor beside his bed audibly slowed.

When Roman pulled back, Virgil gave him a smile. "Are you missing anything important?"

He shook his head, and a part of Virgil knew that even if he was, he wouldn't leave to go do whatever he needed to do. But, he supposed, after the pain he had put him through, he probably didn't have the energy for anything else.

"Nothing is more important than you, Virgil."

Dammit, Virgil was laying there all vulnerable and injured and probably looking like a wreck - the pun making him chuckle internally as it crossed through his mind, reminding him of Patton - and Roman had to go and be sappy like that? He had to get him back, but his mind couldn't think of a way to cutely fluster him. He was just going to have to make do.

"Wanna hear a pick-up line?" he asked sweetly, though the smirk that tugged at his lips was anything but.

Though Roman's brows pulled together in curious confusion, he nodded. "Of course."

"Do you like heavy metal?" he mused, not really waiting for an answer before reciting with a snicker, "Cause I can teach you how to scream."

Roman paused for a second, his cheeks flushing red at the implications of Virgil's line. His nose scrunched up as he laughed off his own flusteredness, rolling his eyes and kissing Virgil again. "Y'know, I would have a retort to that," he paused to kiss him once more, though this time it was little more than a peck. "But not while you're all hopped up on drugs."

"Uh-huh~" Virgil teased with a chuckle before leaning over to the best of his ability, leaning his head on Roman's shoulder with very minimal aching to his neck. "Come here often?" he joked, for some reason finding it funny considering they were in a hospital.

The theatre nerd laughed softly as he carefully wormed his arm underneath Virgil's head. "You know, I don't. But with you around, I might make it a habit."

"You better." He was silent for a moment, contemplating the thoughts that ran through his head. "What happened this morning?" he asked eventually. "Was it James?"

Roman paused, chewing the inside of his lip, and eventually he nodded, though his words were hesitant. "I went to go to the bathroom and he saw that I was alone and slammed me against the wall. After I felt... you know... he backed off, though."

Virgil hummed in acknowledgement, feeling guilt twist in his stomach. He felt like he owed Roman an explanation, but he also knew that Roman would have to go soon so he could visit with his parents. "I'm sorry," he settled on after a minute, to which Roman shook his head.

"It's not your fault."

The injured emo looked away, still feeling guilty, but he knew logically that there wasn't anything he could have done to prevent it. He had done everything he could have done by swerving, harming only himself rather than the other car too. "Did you call your parents?"

Roman nodded, having called them while in the waiting room. "They're mad that I skipped, but they understand why I did. Do you want me to go so you can see your parents?"

"Not really," he smiled with a soft chuckle. "But I don't want to keep them waiting. You'll come back, right?"

"Of course I will. As soon as they leave, I'll be here." He carefully got up out of the bed, withdrawing from Virgil, and pressed a kiss to his head before saying the words that had been playing over and over in Virgil's head from the moment he'd walked into the room.

"I love you."

"I love you, too."


	13. Lone Soul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remy doesn't last long in in-school suspension due to his broken hand, so he caves in and goes to the hospital. That doesn't mean he wants to talk about it yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Hospital, injury, and tears.

Even with how stubborn he was, Remy didn't last long in the small in-school suspension room. His hand was killing him. After only about an hour, the throbbing in his hand, the bruising that had begun to spread along the back of his hand— peeking out from underneath the bandage the nurse had wrapped it up in— and the swelling all became too much.

He had managed to get his crying under control. He was still a wreck, but he felt more numb emotionally than anything else. Virgil was gone. The light in his life— the warmth in the cold emptiness that he was left in without a soulmate— was _gone_. But there was nothing he could do about that. Wiping at his cheeks with his uninjured hand to clear away the tears, his breath hiccupping in the aftermath of his sobs, Remy spoke up, not bothering to raise his hand considering the room was otherwise empty aside from him and the teacher.

"I need to go to the hospital. Do I need my parents to sign for me to leave, or will a phone call work in the office?"

The teacher looked up from the book in front of them, a look of surprise on their face. "O-oh! Are you over eighteen?" He shook his head. "A phone call should be alright. Go on down to the office. I hope you feel better soon."

Remy arrived at the hospital half an hour later. It would have been sooner, but driving with his right hand broken had proven to be difficult, with the gear shifter being on his right side and him unable to grasp anything with his bruised and probably broken hand without shooting pain up his entire arm. He made his way to the receptionist's desk, not bothering to look into the waiting room that he knew Patton, Logan, Roman, and probably Virgil's parents were in. Unless they had all left after finding out he was dead. He didn't know.

He didn't particularly want to, either.

"Hi, there, how can I help you today?" the receptionist greeted him with a smile.

"I think I broke my hand." He was surprised that his voice was as steady as it was, having expected to break down again.

The receptionist handed him a clipboard with intake papers with a nod towards the waiting room. "Go ahead and have a seat. We need you to fill this out to the best of your ability before we have you go see a doctor."

Remy nodded, pushed up his sunglasses that hid his red and puffy eyes, and took the clipboard with his uninjured hand, already knowing he wasn't going to be able to fill out the entire thing. Not legibly, anyways. His dominant hand was broken. He made his way to the waiting room, and when he saw Roman, Patton, and Logan watching him in shock, he froze.

They all looked so worn-thin.

Terror gripped his heart, not wanting to hear what they had to say, what Virgil's condition was. The stubborn part of him still told him that Virgil was dead, but seeing as everyone was still here besides Virgil's parents, he knew it wasn't true. That didn't mean he wasn't in surgery.

That didn't mean he wouldn't ever wake up.

That didn't mean he couldn't still die.

Remy made up his mind and sat next to Patton so as not to seem like he was acting weird, needing the support of his best friend anyways. He risked a brief glance up at Patton, giving a safe upward jab of his chin as greeting— adding a quick, "'Sup, babes."— before he went immediately back to the clipboard because he knew Patton was going to open his mouth and spout something out of pity. He didn't need that right now.

"Rem, what happened to your hand?" Patton gently asked, concerned as always. Remy just about hated his voice right now.

Beyond Patton, Logan looked worried and almost urgent in a way, while Roman looked more curious than anything. Just went to show how well each person in the group knew him. Roman didn't know him. He only got lucky and was able to sweep Virgil away from him with an idiotic soulmate bond, not caring enough to get to know either of them deeper than a surface level before then, and even then, only caring for Virgil to where Remy had been tossed to the side completely. Even Patton had started growing distant because of Logan, and Remy just felt so completely alone again for the first time in forever.

Before his friends, he'd felt alone.

After his older brother left at the end of his freshman year, he felt abandoned.

Now, he felt deserted.

And without Virgil, he was shattered.

He hated it, but it's not like they would know how soul-crushingly lonely he was. They all had soulmates to make them feel whole, and Remy didn't, nor did he tell them that. Before Roman came along and got beat up, Remy only had his friends. Now he didn't even have that. And maybe he blamed Roman a little bit, and maybe he was letting jealousy get the best of him, but he was rightfully allowed to feel all of these things.

"Don't worry about it," he mumbled, staring at the dreadful paper. His hand unsteadily began to try to fill it out, but he'd never had to write with his non-dominant hand— especially not with it shaking— and it was so highly frustrating in his already emotional state.

Still, he continued to try at least.

Try for Virgil who was so much stronger than him.

Try so he didn't look weak in front of his friends who were calm and composed compared to him, revealing just how much he cared about Virgil, just how obvious it was that his affection went deeper than friendship.

And try because he didn't need their looks of pity or their attention when Virgil had it much worse. They were here for Virgil, not him.

Patton cleared his throat, making Remy tense. Here it came. "I don't know if you heard me over the phone or not, but Virgil is—"

"Don't," he snapped, grip tightening impossibly around the pen to where his nails dug into the bottom of his palm. Patton obeyed, and Remy went back to scribbling more so than writing.

He couldn't even write his own fucking name.

He cursed himself as more tears spilled over, slipping beneath his sunglasses and down his face over a stupid packet of paperwork.

Paperwork because he punched a wall because Virgil had been in a car accident.

He'd been in a car accident, and Remy was too much of a coward to even _think_ about what condition he was in.

Suddenly Patton was taking Remy's sunglasses off as his shoulders shook to show his eyes: red and puffy beyond belief, their brilliant teal and gold now a dull gray color. He'd been caught. Almost ashamedly, he brought up his eyes to meet a surprised Logan and Roman, and a knowing Patton. Sometimes his friend knew him too well for his own good.

"Oh, Rem," he murmured.

Patton knew.

He had to.

There was no way he couldn't see how hard Remy had fallen for their best friend.

He felt arms around his shoulders, squeezing him and providing as much comfort as was possible in this sort of situation. There he dissolved, letting all his tension melt into Patton, quietly sobbing once more. While he broke down yet again, his friend ran his fingers down Remy's hair soothingly, and he began to whisper reassurances.

"It's okay, Rem. I'm going to help you fill it out, okay? And then you're going to go see Virgil—"

"I can't—"

"Shhh. He's okay. He's going to be okay. Roman just got back from seeing him, his parents are in there now, and you can go see him once your hand is all patched up. Does that sound like a plan, Rem?"

It didn't sound real. Though his tears continued rolling freely, his sobs halted and he lifted his head up from where it rested against Patton's shoulder, meeting his eyes. "He... he's okay?"

The other nodded with a smile, using gentle fingers to comb Remy's hair out of his eyes before he pressed a kiss to the top of his head and took the clipboard away from him. "He's okay," he reaffirmed. "A little bit broken and bruised up, but he's okay."

"He, uh..." Roman spoke up, drawing Remy's attention to him. Fuck, Remy had forgotten about him. How was he reacting to him breaking down over Virgil? Hopefully he just thought that he was broken up over his best friend being hurt. "He's got a dislocated shoulder, a couple of stitches, some bruises... I think he said whiplash. A concussion, probably. But he's going to be okay. After you finish getting your hand patched up, you can come see him if you want. I'll be in there at the time, but you can come by and I'll leave the room. Only one visitor allowed right now, because he's in intensive care."

Intensive care?

The words clung inside his mind, and he repeated them over and over again until he internally snapped at himself for it.

At least he was _alive_.

"Rem," Patton said gently after a moment of filling out the basic information on the intake papers: his name and birthday and such. "What did you do to your hand? I need to write something down here."

"Oh, uh..." He looked down at the limb, eyes tracing over the bruises that blossomed over the entire side of his hand with a chillingly indifferent look. He tried to move his fingers, and though his pointer and middle fingers and thumb moved without problem, his ring finger only twitched, and his pinky didn't move at all. Pain spread through his entire hand, and he hissed softly, wincing. "Broke it, I think. Punched a wall."

He saw Patton wince out of the corner of his eye, and then he wrote down Remy's answer.

Nobody dared to ask him why.

The rest of the paperwork was filled out, with Remy supplying answers whenever Patton needed them. A nurse called Remy back to one of the doctor's offices, and after a long few hours, he was left sitting in the room, staring down at the black cast that had been put on him. It encased his pinky and ring finger, as well as his wrist and a portion of his forearm.

Remy pulled himself up out of bed and grabbed the discharge papers the doctor had brought him before heading back to the receptionist's desk. The receptionist was busy with something on the computer when he approached, and he gently cleared his throat to catch their attention.

"I... uh... is Virgil Mercer still here?" he asked when they looked up at him.

"Yes, he is. But unfortunately, visiting hours are over for the night. You are welcome to come back tomorrow."

The air rushed from his lungs in a sigh of defeat, and he shook his head. He couldn't believe he had missed his chance to see Virgil. "No... please, I just want to check on my friend for one minute. I couldn't see him earlier..." He held up his hand to show evidence of why he hadn't been able to do so. The receptionist raised an eyebrow and thought for a moment before looking over their shoulder to make sure that nobody else was looking before nodding.

"He is down the hall right there in Intensive Care. There is already a gentleman in there with him, so you will have to make it quick."

Remy nodded quickly, relief flooding him in an instant. After getting the room number, he made his way down the hall they had specified and sought out the correct room. He stopped in front of the closed door, staring at it as his thoughts warred in his head.

What would happen if he went in there?

If he had to see Virgil like that?

Broken.

Bruised.

He couldn't...

He reached towards the doorknob, and every part of his brain screamed at him.

No.

No.

_**NO.**_

He couldn't do it.

He couldn't look at Virgil all swallowed up in those stark white sheets, cuddled up with Roman when Remy knew he had no way of being able to comfort him.

When he knew that he couldn't be the one to curl up with him.

When he knew that he would be intruding, even if it should be him in that room, not Roman. Remy was the one who'd been by Virgil's side for three years, Remy was the one who needed to repay the debt that Virgil insisted didn't exist for keeping him safe his sophomore year, and Remy was the one who— who...

Who wasn't Virgil's soulmate.

Remy lowered his hand, and with a deep, shaky breath, he turned around and went home.


	14. Emo Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil is recovering physically, but mentally he's only getting worse when Roman has to go back to school and he still hasn't heard from Remy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Hospital, nightmare, implied/mentioned panic attack, flashbacks, and previous car crash.

_The first thing Virgil heard was the rumbling of the engine. Then it was Roman, talking beside him aimlessly about something he couldn't quite pay attention to. Virgil was driving to some unknown destination, the music on the radio kept low so he could still hear Roman. A sense of warm fondness filled his chest as he listened to his soulmate ramble about nothing and everything all at once.  
_

_He looked so happy, the sun shining through his golden hair and illuminating his eyes. As a stoplight slowed the car to a stop, Virgil looked more fully at Roman, who met his gaze and smiled at him as though he were the most beautiful thing to ever grace the earth. As the car began to move once more, Virgil found himself unable to tear his eyes from Roman. Unable to look away from the bright smile he gave him._

_A car slammed into the side of theirs, jolting the two of them to the side and ripping the air from their lungs._

_It was the same stomach-churning sensation of flipping._

_Of the wheels losing traction against the ice and coming off the road entirely._

_Of his head hitting the window._

_It was all the same, and Roman was at his side this time._

_Virgil could almost physically hear the sirens - they were right there - and as he hung upside down, the warm wetness of blood dripping from his fingertips, he could only pray that the paramedics would get there in time to make sure Roman was okay._

_He had to be okay._

_He was okay._

_Right?_

_Though... when Virgil was put into the ambulance on a gurney - an icy, numb chill settling over his entire body as the warmth left him in a rush - Roman emerged from the wreckage in a body bag._

_Virgil screamed for Roman, no sound coming out even though his throat burned with the force of the scream. A heavy, terrible pain settled in his chest, though every part of him was numb, as though he were underwater, drifting away from reality._

He woke with a start, sitting up on instinct alone, and the tears that were already flowing freely from his eyes increased in intensity as pain flooded through his chest and head at the sudden movement. Gasping sobs tore from his chest, rubbing his throat raw, and he wanted to curl in on himself to make the ache in his chest go away, but he knew he couldn't. Not without making the pain worse.

He laid back down, turning his head slightly to see the empty spot on the bed beside him, and a small part of his sleep-addled brain told him that Roman was gone because he was dead. Because the dream had been real.

But he knew that wasn't the case.

Roman had had to go home a couple days ago, having spent the better part of the last week with him in the hospital, missing out on school. He still came over during visiting hours after school, but outside of that small window of time, Virgil was so helplessly alone.

He worked to control his breathing, to ease the horrible emptiness in his chest. He screwed his eyes shut tightly, only to open them once more when his phone buzzed on the end table beside the bed, illuminating the mostly-dark room. Checking the screen, Virgil breathed a small sigh of relief to see a text from Roman, asking if he was alright, and telling him that he had felt pain in his chest and head.

After sending Roman a response explaining that he was okay - just moved a little too quickly - Virgil let his finger hover over the text conversation with Remy.

Remy, who had always been so close to him.

Remy, who had always been there for him.

Remy, who everyone had said had ended up in the hospital with a broken hand the same day he had been in the accident.

Remy, who still hadn't shown up to see him.

A long second of contemplative silence hung heavily in the air around him, and eventually, he pressed the screen to open up the conversation. He typed out a message with a few unsteady presses of his thumb, and hit send before staring at the screen in silence, as though he expected a response right away.

"Hey."

The lone message tauntingly stared back at him, and when he finally looked away, though it felt like only minutes had passed, the sunlight was streaming through the windows, lighting up the room.

Before too long - with time passing in a blur between the nurses coming in to check on his vitals and medications - there was a knock on his door that jolted Virgil out of his thoughts, and his mom's head poked in the doorway, a small smile tugging at her lips.

"Can I come in, sweetheart?" Virgil nodded, and she entered the room, making her way to the chair beside his bed. "I can't stay long today - I have to get to work - but I wanted to come see you. How are you doing in here?"

She reached across the space between them and brushed Virgil's hair away from his face with a gentle touch that had him closing his eyes and letting out a small, contented sigh. "I'm holding up, mom," he assured her as he opened his eyes once more with a smile. "The doctors were talking last night about how I might be able to go home soon. In the next couple days for sure."

"That's great, sweetheart." Even though she was keeping her voice calm and sweet, it was obvious that she was torn between worrying about Virgil and being absolutely ecstatic that he was coming home soon.

The two of them sat in comfortable quiet for a minute before Virgil cleared his throat gently and spoke up. "Mom...? Can you send me the pictures you took for the insurance agency? Of the car, I mean. And the crash site." He had been hesitant to ask all week, just the thought of seeing the wreckage being nearly too much to bear, but curiosity won out over hesitance, as it always did in the end.

She paused, staring at him with concern in her eyes, no words passing between them for the longest time. And eventually - what seemed an eternity later - she nodded. "I can send them for you now. Are you sure you're ready to see them?"

Virgil gulped, nodding his head haltingly before his movements evened out and became more sure of his answer. "I'm sure." He wasn't, really, but he knew that he needed to see them. He needed to know just how bad the wreckage was.

It had to be pretty bad, right? For his mom to not want him to see it, and for him to have been as bad off as he was. Her frown of deep thought and concern only confirmed his theory.

"Anything else you need?" she softly chimed when she was done.

He was quiet for a minute, chewing the inside of his lip in contemplation, not quite able to meet her eyes. He was worried he would see the concern in them if he looked. "How... uh...." His voice cracked, and he cleared his throat before trying again. "How bad was it?"

Her brow drew together, watching him and trying to read into her son's thoughts, however complicated they were to her. Why was he asking this now? Almost a week later? Maybe he hadn't been ready before, and maybe he never would be. Not that she was blaming him.

She couldn't quite find an answer, continuing to stroke his hair affectionately. "It was almost half-crushed, hun, but you don't need to worry about it anymore, okay? You're alive, you're going to be out of here soon, and that's all that matters. We'll get you a new one when we can," she assured.

Virgil nodded slowly, feeling a familiar sting behind his eyes as tears welled but didn't flow. He swallowed thickly around the lump in his throat and took a deep, shaky breath.

Okay.

He was okay.

He was alive.

**_Alive._**

He let a small smile pull at the corners of his lips, and he nodded once more, more sure of himself this time. "Thanks, mom. I won't keep you any longer, I know you have work."

"Are you sure? There's absolutely nothing I can bring you?" She had to make sure, not wanting him to get bored or upset.

Virgil nodded. He had already asked within the last week for his jacket - the one he had borrowed from Roman weeks ago - but she had told him it was stained with blood and would take a while before they could get the stains completely out. He was heartbroken about it, and more than a little concerned about the fact that there was so much blood that it had stained what had so easily become his favorite jacket.

She gave him a lingering look, then sighed and her hand stilled against his head. "Your dad won't stop playing your music at night. He misses you," she told him. She was avoiding work, and knew that it was much less important than her son anyways, wanting to just climb up in the bed and cuddle him like she used to when he was little. But the hospital bills had to get paid somehow, and lord knows that the insurance wouldn't cover all of it.

His breath rushed out in a chuckle, a genuine smile gracing his face for the first time in days as he shook his head at the thought of his dad listening to his music. It seemed a little strange to him that his dad - always quiet, always hating his choice of music - missed him enough to sit down and continually listen to it. Sure, it was sweet. Just a little strange.

"I miss you guys, too," he said smally. "I'll be home soon enough."

She nodded and leaned down to press a kiss to his forehead before straightening and sighing softly. She could only stall for so long. "I have to go, sweetheart. I, uh... I'll try to come see you when I get off work if Roman isn't here by then."

Goodbyes were said, and in what seemed like no time at all, Virgil was once more utterly alone. He sat in silence for a long time, staring down at his phone with the screen off, knowing that he had a text from his mom containing the pictures.

Pictures of the wreckage.

Pictures of what had nearly killed him.

He turned on his phone and opened the message.

...

...

It was horrible.

So much worse than he had imagined.

The car was crushed.

Totalled.

Flipped upside down and surrounded by shards of glass splattered in drops of blood that stained the snow.

_He was back inside the car, sirens screaming in his ears, somehow feeling both nothing and everything all at once. He could feel the warmth dripping from his fingertips, could feel the harsh stinging of the cold air hitting the gaping wound in his shoulder, could taste the sharp tang of coppery blood in his mouth._

_Could hear the ringing in his ears._

_Ringing?_

Roman's face lit up his phone's screen, getting rid of the pictures of the wreckage. Breathing a sigh of relief, Virgil answered the call with a small "Hey, Ro."

"Hey, V. Is everything okay over there? My eyes are kinda stinging like you were crying."

Huh?

Virgil brought his fingers up to his cheek and felt the dampness of tears - when had he started crying? He took a deep breath and shook his head as though Roman could see him. "I'm okay. I, uh... My mom sent me the pictures of the wreck."

He heard a breath of " _shit_ ", on the other end of the phone, and he nearly laughed out loud. He was sure he would have if not for the entirety of the situation he found himself in.

"Do you want me to skip today? I can be there in five minutes if you need me."

God, Virgil wanted to say yes. He wanted to tell Roman to drive to the hospital and spend the day with him and comfort him - calm his nerves and whisk away his nightmares with a single warm embrace. But he knew that Roman had already skipped more than enough school at his expense, and he would feel bad asking him to miss even more just because he had seen some pictures.

_And had a nightmare._

_And a panic attack._

_And flashbacks._

"No, I'm alright, Princey. You can come over after school for a few hours."

"Are you sure?"

_No._

"Yeah, of course."

Roman was quiet for a moment before letting out a small sigh. "Okay, I guess I'll see you after school then. Text me if you need anything, I gotta get going."

"Ro?" the emo interjected before Roman was able to hang up. And when he got a questioning noise in response, he continued. "When you come later, do you think you can bring another one of your hoodies? The one I had before... my mom said is too stained with blood to wear yet and it'll take a while to get all the stains out."

Roman agreed easily, and after the call was ended with two somewhat sad 'I love you's, once more was Virgil left alone, staring at the pictures taking up his screen. He spent the day like that, staring at the pictures, willing his eyes not to tear up so he didn't worry Roman any more than he already was. More of the day passed in yet another endless blur of nurses and doctors coming in to check his vitals, readminister medications, and change out his bandages.

Virgil reopened the messages with Remy at some point, staring at the read receipt claiming that his friend had opened the message from that morning several hours ago. Why hadn't he replied? What was going on with him?

He composed a second message.

"Please, Rem. I really need you right now..."

His finger hovered over the send button for what felt like an infinite amount of time, and eventually, with a shaky sigh, he deleted the message and set aside his phone.

It wasn't like Remy would reply anyways. 


	15. Goodbye, Stormy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil surprises Roman by showing up to school without telling him, but things are still far from okay, especially after something Logan says. Virgil finds Remy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Remy and Virgil get into an argument.

"Do you know when Virgil's getting out?" Patton piped up, biting his lip the way he did when he was excited about something or trying to keep a secret.

Roman shifted slightly in his seat, looking at the soulmates across from him, and trying to ignore the two empty chairs that had haunted the whole group since the crash. "No," he responded. Virgil had been acting weird, hardly talking to him or letting him know anything, and leaving Roman to worry about why his eyes stung so often lately. He _knew_ that Virgil was crying, and he wished there was something he could do about it, but Virgil wouldn't let him. It hurt.

Patton betrayed a small smirk, which only brought confusion to Roman's expression, while Logan kept a poker face as usual, though his eyes looked amused. "What?" Roman whined. He hated not knowing things. Especially when it came to Virgil.

His questions were soon answered, however, when a pair of arms flung themselves around his shoulders from the back, and his first instinct was to harshly flinch. He knew who it was as soon as he felt the familiar home-like warmth that just poured from the body that was pressed against his back. "Surprise," a musing voice murmured in his ear. He felt a pair of cold, soft lips press just beneath his ear, causing him to shiver.

His heart paused in its beating.

All was quiet.

And Roman broke out into a grin.

The second Virgil's arms withdrew, Roman shot up out of his seat, and whipped around to tackle his boyfriend into a hug. God it felt good to have his frame held close to his again, away from a hospital bed. It didn't seem real that he was here now, Roman being able to press his face into the cool skin of his neck, nuzzling his nose up into the fluffy, dark hair his emo possessed. It didn't seem real.

And yet it was.

Kiss after kiss found its way to every inch of skin Roman could get to, and he knew everyone who hung out in the cafeteria in the morning was watching, but he couldn't care less. Virgil was _here._ "Roman," he giggled whiningly, embarrassed.

Virgil was shaking, and not even his upbeat demeanor could cover that up.

Roman quickly pulled back, hands resting gently on his shoulders, looking him in the eyes, searching. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, mood suddenly concerned and tone soft.

Virgil cast his gaze away, and instead trained it to the floor. That wasn't going to make Roman falter. He softly took both of Virgil's hands, uncurling his fingers so that their palms could rest flat against each other, and he nudged his forehead up against Virgil's, having to bend over a little to reach it. And so he simply stood there like that, communicating with the thrumming warmth he shared with his emo rather than words, telling him that he loved him more than anything in the world. He was in no hurry with Virgil. He could take all the time he needed to answer, and as long as they were like this, it was okay.

Virgil took a breath and met Roman's eyes in the dark shade their connected heads created. "Just got out of the car... I kept waiting for something to happen the entire time," he said shakily. Tears pricked his eyes, the familiar feeling returning to Roman, but no sooner were they there than they were gone.

Roman nodded slightly in understanding, slipping his arms around him to hold his soulmate close. "Why didn't you tell me you were out of the hospital?" he asked with gentle concern as he slowly danced them in a circle to cheer Virgil up, to which Virgil chuckled softly.

"I wanted it to be a surprise, dork." He pulled back just a little and tilted his chin up to meet his lips to the other's for a moment before pulling away entirely.

The instant that he let go of Roman, Patton's arms were around him, hugging him tightly with a small noise that somehow combined concern and relief. Feeling his friend's arms around him after days of not seeing him— not seeing any of them— Virgil grinned, his worries relaxing as he wrapped one arm around Patton's waist, the other extending out to his side as his eyes met Logan's. With a small smile, the nerd's shoulders relaxed and he slid into the open spot at Virgil's side. The group was almost completely back together.

If only they had Remy...

Virgil's weary smile betrayed precisely what he was thinking.

Patton gave him an assuring squeeze. "Hey, he doesn't know you're here. I'm sure you'll see him," he encouraged.

Something cracked the emotional dam inside Virgil, having been building every second he was in that isolated, annoyingly pristine and bland room. "I don't fucking see why he can only be in the room if I'm not," he snapped. The outburst caused his two friends to step out of his embrace, flinching in what looked like nervousness, and it made him regret his tone instantly. "Sorry," he quietly apologized.

Patton stepped towards him gently. "It's okay. I understand. None of us get it, either," he said.

"Falsehood," Logan mumbled beneath his breath, head hung low at having to disagree with Patton.

Roman and Virgil's eyes both flickered between Logan and Patton in surprise before locking onto their too-smart-for-his-own-good friend, dancing with confused curiosity. Then brave Roman slowly asked, "What do you mean?"

Logan steadily looked up at his soulmate, starting with a soft, level voice. "You know, Patton. I see it every time you look at Remy." He looked at the other couple. "He loves you, Virgil, and I don't think he could bear it," he said with a painful sort of honesty. "I don't know his exact thought process, but I know at least that much."

Although Logan was practically an expert at verbal comfort, he could also be very bad at it too, which was why Virgil just about looked like he'd had the breath knocked out of him and Roman awkwardly looked anywhere but at his friends in a of a sort of embarrassed not-quite-jealousy-but-getting-there way.

"Oh," Roman murmured.

Then before anyone could do anything to stop it, Virgil turned on his heel and booked it out of the cafeteria, instinctually running from an uncomfortable situation. Patton and Logan both opened their mouths to say something, though they found themselves at a loss for words, and Roman turned to go after him with a pleading, "Virgil, wait."

It was to no avail.

***

Remy loved him? No, that wasn't right, Remy didn't _love_ him. If Remy loved him, he would've said something a long time ago, wouldn't have agreed with Virgil when he joked about them never working out in a relationship, and he would've been there by his side when he needed him the most. If Remy loved him...

No. Remy didn't love him, so there was no point in occupying that fantasy, especially when Virgil already had a soulmate that he was happily in love with. The simple answer was that Logan was wrong for once. That wasn't so impossible, right? It was more possible than his best friend ghosting him because he was in love with him, that's for sure.

God, and Logan had just gone and said that in front of Roman? He was already insecure enough as it was, though he never really talked about it, it was just something Virgil picked up on. What was that supposed to do to his and Roman's relationship if Remy ever came back to their friend group? Virgil could just imagine the tension, and it raised the hair on his arms to think about. Logan had really gone and fucked up.

Virgil couldn't tell what emotion he was experiencing— anger, confusion, sadness, embarrassment... all of the above?— but he knew it hurt and he knew he had to get away. Roman was wonderful, and Virgil loved him boundlessly, but sometimes he just needed the person who already knew everything about him; the person he'd already stayed up countless nights just talking with. With Roman, they were still learning things about each other, still making memories and building their relationship, so things were great, but they were hard. All he wanted at the moment was something simple. And to think that things with Remy weren't simple right now made his stomach twist and his head hurt.

Coming to school had been a bad idea: he should have just stayed home.

In the midst of this onslaught of thoughts, the bell rang and he'd somehow walked himself to the science hall on instinct, guessing it was because he was thinking about Remy and how he knew that this was where he'd be this morning. What he wasn't expecting was for the first thing he noticed to be the busting of a hot Starbucks coffee all over the hallway floor, and to have to step out of the liquid's path over the linoleum. His eyes trailed up to the hand that had dropped it...

"Virgil?" Remy let quietly slip, his tone unbelieving. His face looked like all the blood had drained from it, nearly matching Virgil's complexion and missing that signature rosy tint to his cheeks, and his eyes traced over every inch of Virgil's face— every injury that he'd obtained from the crash with a painful look in his regretful eyes. Virgil couldn't stand the way Remy looked at him sometimes. That deep, sad look like Virgil was something that Remy had lost and not someone standing right in front of him, and every time he gave him that look, Virgil had the urge to say, _'I'm right here.'_

All at once, Virgil wanted to both collapse into his arms and yell until his throat was raw, but relief was a temporary feeling; anger weighed on you until it was released. So after it seemed like the silence had gone on forever, and Virgil had taken in what seemed like every new detail of Remy— the crescent moons beneath his eyes were far darker than usual, his hand was bound in a black cast, and his hair was a greasy mess, unlike the usual cleanliness and precise combing it usual displayed— he steadily asked, "Why have you been ignoring me?" Well, when he said steady, it was more of an attempt than a successful execution, for his voice wavered slightly from the deep hurt his friend's absence had carved in him.

The question itself had been playing in his head over and over and over since he first found out that Remy wasn't going to come see him; wouldn't even message him back. Scenario after scenario had raced through his head until he thought he was insane and just plain paranoid. After all they'd been through together, with how much they leaned on each other, and how deeply they both cared for the other, why did he up and ghost him without a word or a way for Virgil to contact him? It _killed_ Virgil to have the person he talked to everyday suddenly cut himself out of his life with no explanation at the very moment he needed him most. He'd been there every time Remy had needed him, so why couldn't he do the same?

Then it was the answer he had started to believe he'd never hear, though it wasn't really an answer at all. Remy's eyebrows drew together, and he bit his lip while he looked to the floor so that he didn't have to meet Virgil's eyes after what he'd done. "I'm sorry," he murmured.

Virgil wasn't sure he'd heard him right, a wave of dissatisfaction at his unanswered inquiry leaving a sour taste in his mouth. He scoffed. "You're sorry? I don't think sorry exactly cuts it, Rem." His voice was more bitter and sharp than he'd intended it to be, so he sounded mad rather than the tired hurt he'd been going for.

No. He had a right to be mad: what was he talking about? Remy had no reason to just do the things he did when he could have just as easily had a conversation with Virgil. He _should_ be mad in all honesty.

Remy shifted his weight uncomfortably. The bell signifying class had started had rung by then, leaving them standing in an empty hallway with coffee pooling dangerously near their shoes. "I know," he said miserably, "Virgil, I—"

"No," he snapped. His mind was made up. "If you wanna ignore me after I get in a _fucking_ car crash, then you can keep being silent. It's my turn to talk. Because you obviously didn't give me that chance before. I had to physically catch you in the hall for God's sake!" Virgil cried, knocking the hood of Roman's jacket off his head and stepping closer, to which Remy swallowed, and Virgil knew him well enough to know that his heart was racing.

"I _needed_ you. Every day, I sat there, accidentally pulling up our messages on instinct because I'd thought of something that you'd enjoy, only to realize that there was no one on the other side. Do you know how that felt?" It felt like dread and depression and like his world was ending, that's what. It tasted of tears and desolation, and it made him actually _want_ the hospital food just so he could get the sensation out of his mouth.

"I would be lonely or bored or terrified, going through nightmares and panic attacks _alone_ , just begging for you to show up." He ran his hands through his hair and paced from side to side, hoping it would somehow clear his mind and let his thoughts come out in a coherent order. Only occasionally did he stop and look at Remy— who always kept that same guilty expression— or gesture his hands about wildly, though after sharp pain shot through his bad shoulder and he flinched, he kept his hands by his sides.

He could see the concern flash through every inch of Remy's expression, and Virgil just about hated it because he didn't need anyone's pity. What he had needed was comfort, and it was too late for that. Where was that look when he was in the hospital?

"Roman had rehearsal that he couldn't miss any more of because he'd already stayed with me too long, Patton and Logan were busy being soulmates who started acting like spastic parents, and my real parents had to go to work to cover whatever the insurance didn't. And even if they _had_ been there, they don't know me like you do... and I love Roman, but it's just so hard to build an entirely new relationship," he stressed, hardly noticing the flinch as he announced his updated feelings for his soulmate.

It was then that he found himself ending his pacing to fully face Remy. "So where were you, Remy?" A step closer. "Where were you when I was going through the scariest event of my life so far and I just needed someone easy to talk to? After I helped you to not get yourself killed or arrested Sophomore year?" Another step and another until Remy was forced to move else they collide, his pathway curving until his back hit the wall and they were face to face, their hot breath mingling between them. Being this close had always been a dangerous game with them, which was why it stopped happening a few years ago.

"What was so bad that you couldn't even say hi?" he interrogated, his eyes finally welling with frustrated tears that burned every part of his body and caused a bottled scream to boil in the pit of his stomach.

And as Virgil's passionate rant came to a close, Remy's quiet voice finally spoke the things he'd been dying to say for so long. "I'm transparent, Stormy. You know every piece of me— you can't deny that— but somehow you overlook the one main fact about me." Virgil held his breath, pleading to whoever was listening that the words that came out of Remy's mouth next had nothing to do with what Logan had said this morning. Though with every look Remy had ever given him, the sad smile that died in his eyes as he spoke, and through all the affectionate names he'd ever called him, he knew it was true.

God, it was true, and it was something Virgil had wanted deep down for so long, but now it was too late.

At least Remy had _some_ mercy and threw in another topic before he got to the dreaded fact he spoke of, though his avoidance was likely for his own sake. "We stopped talking a month ago," Remy told him. It wasn't bitter, it wasn't angry, it was just... gently informing as if he had already accepted the whole thing. "You were just having too much fun to notice." He attempted a smile, but it only looked like a grimace, and he barely slouched against the wall.

Virgil paused, desperately racking his brain for one decently long conversation since he and Roman had begun dating, but _he couldn't find one._ His shoulders dropped, and he deflated. Remy was right. It seemed neither of them had really been a good friend recently.

Still, there was no avoiding what came next, no matter how long they both pushed it off.

"I'm in love with someone I can't have," Remy finally forced out, not quite being able to outright say it. Virgil's chest felt like it'd caved in, and he did nothing to stop Remy's hand as it came to cradle his cheek with his thumb making light, loving brushes against his hair. The tears in his eyes spilled over. They were cold now from being tamed rather than fiery in their frustration, as if those few statements had extinguished the fight in him.

As if it weren't enough, he continued, only further tearing Virgil's heart to shreds. "He kept me safe. He's the toughest person I know, and I'm weak and couldn't bear to see him all broken up, in his soulmate's arms, because I knew that it couldn't be me." _Oh._ "You've got a new protector. He's better than me anyways, and you two are good together. Why would you want me?" Virgil felt like he was suffocating— felt like his chest was spasming and burning and he was dying, and Remy looked exactly the same way, but more composed and bittersweet. He'd had time to process this, hadn't he?

_'Why would you want me?'_ What kind of question was that— of course he wanted Remy— he needed Remy. He needed every stupid inside joke, the genuine smile Remy so often gave, the late nights and even later mornings, the spontaneous coffee trips, the easy way they both knew exactly what to say... Why would he even ask such a thing? Virgil let out a choked sob, jarring the loose water in eyes and prompting it to tumble more quickly down his cheeks, openly displaying exactly what had gone on for most of the time spent in his hospital room, and in that moment, Remy's warmth slipped away from his face, and he skirted around Virgil, leaving him feeling cold and staring at a blank wall.

That was the first and last time they spoke for a week. 


	16. Read My Lips

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman comes over after one of his performances to spend the night, and Virgil knows just what to do when he has a nightmare. Things are slowly healing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Implied intention of sex that doesn't go anywhere, innuendos, nightmare, and lots of kissing.

A knock at the door had Virgil scrambling out of bed, sliding down the hall in his Nightmare Before Christmas socks, and throwing it open with the widest grin imaginable. There in the doorway, in all his regality, stood none other than his dashing Roman Stokes with his hair a mess and the outline of where mic tape used to be on his face. Every second with Roman seemed to be the most important second of his life. Now perhaps it was because they were soulmates, or possibly it was the fact they'd seen each other so little while he was in the hospital, or maybe, just maybe it was love.

"May I come in, fair prince?" the dramatic actor and light of his life asked. A smile kept pulling at his features, betraying how eager to see Virgil he was, like he would give in to the urge to tackle him at any second.

Virgil grabbed his wrist and practically yanked him inside in an instant. After he'd shut the door, he let out a squeal because Roman grabbed him by the waist the second he turned around so that he could slide his arms further down to pick Virgil up in a dramatic, twirling flourish. The emo just smiled, draping his arms around his neck, trusting that the arms beneath his ass combined with how he'd wrapped his legs around Roman kept him from falling. Virgil wanted to savor the moment— take in the sight of his face and play with his hair— but Roman was too overflowing with how happy he was to see him to move slowly, and kept trying to chase Virgil's lips. He rolled his eyes playfully.

" _Virgiiil_ , let me kiss you," Roman whined, " _One_ kiss." How could he resist his adorable pout?

Only, Roman was highly caught off-guard when _Virgil_ was the one to kiss _him_ , his eyes going wide as the emo suckled at his bottom lip, dragging his teeth lightly along it when he went to pull away. It appeared to be... deeper than what the actor had been expecting. Virgil just smirked triumphantly, and proceeded to move his lips to Roman's neck. This caused the poor boy to blush so profusely that Virgil could feel the heat in his neck through his lips. Thus Roman simply stood there, holding him as he performed his soft, wet pulls at particularly sensitive skin, probably not knowing what to do with himself as Virgil often didn't in these situations.

"Virgil, w-what if your parents come into the living room?" he asked, more out of flusteredness than anxiety.

"They're out of town," he supplied, "Helping my grandparents move." The vibrations of his voice buzzed along Roman's skin. "My room?" he purred. They both knew it meant something more to venture there, Virgil having been like a freight train ever since he'd gotten out of the hospital.

"Virgil," Roman said insistently.

His tone sent Virgil hurtling out of their perfect, glowy fantasy and back into reality. Reality which was his boring, neat and clean, empty living room with its black leather couch, and a view of the granite kitchen. Physically, at least: another thing he could focus on to distract from the real issues. How could Roman make him forget about the crash so thoroughly, yet remind him of it all over again?

For Virgil instantly knew what the problem was, even if he didn't want to. After all, Roman had chided him more than once this week for being reckless and trying to move much faster than he normally would, having told Roman that he wanted to keep living life like the crash never happened. Roman had quickly caught on to what he was doing. He must know what it's like to pretend like something doesn't exist, keeping yourself busy to drown it, and they both understood that it wasn't healthy even if Virgil didn't seem to care.

Virgil pulled away from his neck, blinking at him. The worst part was that Roman didn't even know the half of it. He'd failed to mention how Remy had told him he was in love with him, failed to mention how he felt the same, and failed to mention that he especially wanted to forget that part. God, it made him feel so guilty. All the friend group knew was that Virgil had gone off on Remy, and that Remy was upset that Virgil had practically abandoned him when he got with Roman. They knew that they weren't talking, and frankly, that was all they needed to know.

"As much as I want to," Roman started slowly, "I think we should wait until things have gone back to being as normal as they can be."

With a simple, resigned, "Okay," Virgil lightly kissed his lips and indicated he wanted down.

Roman didn't need to explain himself, not only because of the topic, but because Virgil knew what he meant. He'd seen the looks Roman gave him in the rare moments they'd seen each other this week when Virgil was being reckless. It's just... there had been _nothing_ in that hospital room other than his cracked phone and a TV with nothing interesting on.

So what if he wanted to skip class and run across the street when the walk light was red? Everyone else did it. And who cared if he acted out in class because he was tired of just _sitting_ there? They weren't even big enough events to matter.

Virgil gently laced their fingers together, and walked Roman into his room without another word, shutting the door behind them before plopping down on his bed. "So how did the show go?" he asked, suddenly perking up where he'd been lost in thought before. Roman joined him on the bed, softly kissing his cheek. It felt like an apology. Virgil didn't know why Roman was apologizing; there was nothing to apologize for, so after he furrowed his brow, he let it go.

"Oh, Virgil, it was marvelous. Not a single voice crack, my acting was lovely— though I could have done a bit better with a scene or two— and I cried pretty well!" he retold, laying on his back.

Virgil chuckled. Only an actor would be proud of _crying_. He just wished that he could have been in the show, but the wreck had kept him from being able to tech for it, which had bummed him out. He regretted all those times he complained about the late hours, knowing that he would've much rather been at a set build, busying his hands and laughing hysterically with the other techs than stuck motionless in a bed. Alone.

"That's great, Ro," he mused. He'd already been to the show the day before, and he was planning on going again tomorrow.

"Damien tripped on stage," Roman mentioned, "He wasn't looking where he was going, and his foot caught on the stairs by the platform. He claimed he was fine after the scene was over, but he had a limp, and I'm pretty sure it broke the skin."

Roman began babbling, going on a tangent that made Virgil laugh fondly as he listened. "I've done that before: walked full-speed into a bench because it was dark and I couldn't see, and busted my shins up pretty bad." He paused, going back to his main point. "Oh god, you should've seen his smug face, it was hilarious." He frowned in thought, and Virgil kept quiet because he knew he had more to say. "Nothing else really happened... though Remus was acting really weird after the show, walking funny, quiet... He wouldn't tell me what was wrong."

Virgil laid down beside Roman, turning on his side so that he could be closely tucked beneath his arm with his head resting on his chest to feel it move up and down. Roman sighed contentedly. It was like a breath of fresh air amidst the chaos the past two weeks had been; a moment of calm. There were no words needed, just the silent tracing of fingers along content skin, both knowing how much they'd missed just being able to _be_. The feeling the bond gave Virgil reminded him of warm, crisp bread with honey on it, and maybe that was too specific, but it was perfect in his mind and that was all that mattered because it was a feeling between him and Roman only.

"Maybe they're soulmates," Virgil brought up after what could have been anywhere from five minutes to an hour.

"Who?"

"Damien and Remus," he laughed. He'd been entirely kidding at first— Damien was Remus' polar opposite: refined, popular, only speaking if he had something important or funny to say— but now it was actually starting to make sense.

"Oh my god," Roman muttered, his voice filled with revelation.

"What?" Virgil inquired. It sounded important.

"You know how my brother is constantly getting hurt?" Virgil nodded. "Damien is the same way, but with his soulmate. He likes to joke and say it's because he's so cool that he has multiple soulmates, but we all know that's impossible. What if you're right?! Oh my god." Roman's face was that of an existential crisis, which was absolutely cracking Virgil up.

"Poor Damien," he said, "He's so refined and calm, and then his soulmate is practically chaos incarnate..."

Roman hummed in amusement. "We should call him in the morning. I'd love to hear his reaction." Roman stretched down to kiss him at the awkward angle they were at, and Virgil quickly reciprocated before scrunching his face together and pulling away.

"What time is it?" he wondered at the mention of morning. His phone was all the way over on the nightstand, and he didn't feel like getting it.

Roman wriggled around until he'd fished his phone out of his jean pocket. "It's uh... eleven thirteen," he supplied.

"We should get ready for bed," he mumbled, craning his head up to kiss Roman's jaw, though he didn't move otherwise.

Though they had to get up eventually, so Roman groaned tiredly and nudged Virgil. "Come on, love. Then we can get right back in bed," he persuaded.

With that bit of motivation, Virgil ended up going through his nightly routine, and the both of them got into more comfortable clothes. None of Virgil's pajama pants would fit Roman, so they laughingly gave up trying, and Virgil gave him a baggy T-shirt with the agreement he could just sleep in his boxers.

"You look cute in nothing but my T-shirt," Virgil commented teasingly, watching as Roman's ears went red.

And when they eventually settled down and fell asleep, Virgil got his first night of peace, while Roman's mind had other plans.

***

It wasn't even a clear stream of a story, really, it was terrifying clips that didn't make sense and the instinctive, deep feeling he'd lost Virgil. Somehow he just knew Virgil was dead, even though he couldn't visually see it. The only part he could vividly remember was Virgil's car, upside down like it had been in the pictures Virgil had shown him, but it was red instead of black, and he was going to put a packaged bouquet of roses beside it. That could only mean... That meant—

His eyes opened to the dark room, and for a moment he had no idea where he was. This wasn't his bed... What direction was he even facing? The room could be spinning for all he knew, and—

**Virgil.** He was in Virgil's room. Virgil was in his arms, safe and warm. Roman breathed a sigh of relief, and when he inhaled again, it was shaky and wet against Virgil's neck.

Oh.

He was crying.

There were actual tears on his face: a thing that hadn't happened to him in dreams for almost a year now. _'Please don't let this start again,'_ he thought.

"Ro?" Virgil's voice was scratchy and deep from having just woken up, and he felt him stretch, guilt settling over him for having woken up his boyfriend. "What's wrong, babe?" His easily-distracted brain focused on the fact that that was a new name. He liked it.

Virgil shifted, and Roman loosened his hold (even though he didn't want to) until he'd turned around, lovingly looking him in the eyes as if Roman couldn't feel the discomfort in his shoulder. And as he waited for an answer, Virgil lightly traced his fingers along Roman's cheek before wiping the tears away with gentle care. It was enough for Roman to softly smile. What did he do to deserve so much affection?

Maybe he didn't.

_No. Don't start again. There is no "deserving" in a relationship._

"Just a nightmare," he dismissed in a whisper.

A look of understanding passed Virgil's face, and somehow, that broke Roman's heart in an instant. How many nightmares had he had since the crash? How bad? How much pain was he hiding from him? Roman was no role-model for sharing feelings, but that didn't set the standard for Virgil, and he wanted more than anything for Virgil to let him in.

"Do you want to tell me what it was about?" Virgil had phrased it like a choice, but Roman could tell he was curious, and was tired of hiding things anyways.

"Random bits of the crash," he explained, adding in barely a breath, "I lost you." The tears welled again, and Virgil was there at a moment's notice to whisk them away without so much as a word. All the while Roman felt bad for even bringing it up because he knew Virgil had it so much worse, so he just felt pathetic and empty. "I know I wasn't even in it, and I only saw the pictures, but—"

"Shhh," Virgil soothed. Roman had been on the verge of getting himself far more worked up, his voice nearly cracking, and his breath becoming heavy, but in a single instant, Virgil had calmed the storm. "It's okay. You felt it too. And you nearly lost someone, which is really traumatic, Roman," he reminded. His voice was the gentlest thing in his life, as calming as a knife smoothly cutting through moon sand.

How was it so easy to be around him? So calming? It was like nothing he'd ever felt before.

He let himself fall into the rhythm of Virgil stroking his hair, sinking deep into the thick brown his eyes promised until his chest steadied, and he pressed their foreheads together with a shaky inhale. "I'm right here," Virgil murmured. Hearing it out loud finally washed Roman's worries right away, for there was that leftover nagging, irrational doubt that _this_ was the dream and he was still going to wake up into a world with no Virgil.

Sliding his arms around him to pull him tight again, he buried his nose into the nape of his neck. "Thank you," he mumbled miserably.

Feeling an ache in his shoulder, he loosened his grip almost immediately. Then he quickly apologized and nuzzled right back into his neck. As terrified as he was of losing him, his biggest fear was hurting Virgil, because it was no secret that he favored one arm heavily over the other and probably would for several more weeks. He may not need to wear the sling anymore, but he was still healing, and Roman could _feel_ that. It was mainly why he'd stopped Virgil from going any further tonight.

"It's okay," Virgil said softly.

After a long, still silence, Roman felt _something_ shift. It was the way Virgil's neck muscles tensed that he knew there was a smirk on his boyfriend's face. "I can feel that, you know," he informed, pulling back. "What are you smiling for?" He cocked an eyebrow, and he could tell Virgil just felt all the more amused with himself.

"Nothing..." he started mischievously, "I was just wondering where your favorite spot to be kissed was." He batted his eyelashes innocently at him.

Roman's brain had officially broken. Virgil had broken it. Even though he knew Virgil was just trying to distract him, it was completely and utterly broken in a frenzy of gay panic and the anticipation of what Virgil's words meant. Oh _god._

His skin was alight with a roaring blush the second Virgil's lips landed on his forehead. "Is it here?" Had his voice always been this deep? Then there was a warm press to his temple. "What about here?" Roman scrunched his nose at his soulmate. His wet lips slowly progressed from his cheekbone, to his cheek, to a line down his jaw. "None of those places either? Picky picky," Virgil chided. Roman could just about scream, resisting the urge to squirm under his tingling touch, instead staying completely still with a death grip around Virgil's ribs.

His silence was forsaken in an instant when Virgil started kissing his neck, a sensation which sent the solid form of giggles shooting through his veins. But that wasn't his favorite spot either despite its sensitivity. Not even when Virgil kissing the divot where his neck met his shoulder made him squeal. No, his favorite spot was the place where Virgil had first kissed him outside of the hospital, a place both sensitive in its physical and sentimental essence.

"Was that it? Did I get it?" Virgil prodded, poking at his ribs and making him let out an ungodly noise that was _supposed_ to be a laugh. Roman shook his head, smiling at him smugly because he knew it meant Virgil had to keep kissing him.

At this point he'd completely forgotten his nightmares, and was entirely at Virgil's mercy. "Well, what other places are there?" he puzzled. Roman's eyes just crinkled at the corners.

Realization— although not correct— dawned on Virgil's face. "Oh you bastard!" he claimed, lovingly rolling his eyes per usual, and softly planting a kiss to Roman's lips.

After a dazed, slow blink of his eyes, Roman was able to enunciate, "Nope. Not it either."

"I'm running out of places here."

"Guess you'll just have to keep kissing me then."

Virgil sighed dramatically. "If you insist." He moved to slip beneath the sheets, jokingly muttering, "I didn't know you were a like-to-get-your-toes-sucked kinda guy."

Roman swatted at him and tried to pull his boyfriend back up, panting and groaning as if this were the most abhorrent thing on the planet in between laughing. "Stop it, you goblin," he ordered breathlessly. Virgil's head finally popped back out from under the sheets, and he looked more mischievous than ever. Roman couldn't help but capture that look of his with a kiss.

"Guess I gotta start from the beginning— **_oh!_** I know which spot I missed!" he announced triumphantly.

"Do you now?" Roman hummed, quickly silenced by Virgil's teasing breath fanning against his ear, a tugging kiss pressed just where he needed it. It was as if Virgil had sucked his brain out with the touch, for Roman had forgotten how to speak.

"Was that it?" Virgil mumbled, lips still warm against his skin.

He was able to squeak out a reply, as furiously red as he felt. And after a long moment of burrowing into Virgil to hide, he got the confidence to roll over on top of him, pinning him to the bed to exact his revenge in his own onslaught of kisses. He already knew where Virgil liked his lips, but he took his time getting there. Seriously, there was practically a neon arrow flashing directly towards the base of his neck at all times.

Now there'd be a purple mark.


End file.
